Law360, New York (February 20, 2015, 10:31 AM EST) -- On Feb. 17, 2015, the former treasurer of Pennsylvania, Robert M. McCord, pled guilty to federal extortion charges for attempting to shake down campaign donors in his failed bid to become the 2014 Pennsylvania Democratic gubernatorial nominee. McCord, who was first elected treasurer in 2008 and re-elected in 2012, was considered by some to be a front-runner in the 2014 gubernatorial primary. According to his signed plea agreement, McCord attempted to extort campaign contributions from a Philadelphia-based law firm that provided hundreds of thousands of dollars of legal services to the state, as well as a Pennsylvania-based property management company that did significant business with the state....