TIMELINE: FBI raid on Allentown City Hall to Pawlowski's indictment

It was no secret Allentown's mayor was being investigated for allegedly trading city contracts for kickbacks and campaign contributions.

Federal prosecutors only referred to the alleged ringleader of the pay-to-play scheme as public official No. 3, as FBI agents raided City Hall in July 2015 and prosecutors left a breadcrumb-like trail of charges and guilty plea deals with businessmen and city officials.

On Tuesday, Mayor Ed Pawlowski was notified he was indicted, but the indictments are under seal, defense attorney Jack McMahon said.

"Why they are sealed I can't begin to tell you," McMahon said.

The indictments are slated to be unsealed on Wednesday in Philadelphia, with a first-appearance hearing set for Thursday, McMahon said.

Michele Mucellin, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Attorney's Office in Philadelphia, declined to comment when asked about the indictments.

McMahon said he had heard there were others who were indicted at the same time as the mayor, but since they were sealed, he didn't have details.

McMahon said he was aware Scott Allinson, of the Norris McLaughlin law firm, being indicted, but only because Allinson emailed people about it, and the email was then posted on the blog Lehigh Valley Ramblings.

While the mayor may not know exactly what prosecutors are alleging, they have revealed more pieces of their investigation puzzle in the guilty pleas made over the past two years.

Developer Ramzi Haddad, of Bethlehem, was the first domino to fall. Haddad pleaded guilty in September 2015, admitting he agreed to give Pawlowski "numerous" donations in exchange for actions from the city, including municipal inspections of Haddad's buildings.

The first city official to sign off on a plea deal was Dale Wiles, former assistant solicitor. In November 2015, Wiles pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud, for his role in awarding the contract to a Pawlowski donor.

Climbing up the ladder, former finance director Garret Strathearn and Allentown's former controller Mary Ellen Koval also reached plea deals.

Mike Fleck. (lehighvalleylive.com file photo)

Then in April 2016, authorities announced a plea deal for a star witness -- political consultant Mike Fleck.

Fleck and his company provided consulting services to Pawlowski and Reading Mayor Vaughn D. Spencer.

Prosecutors said the mayors used Fleck and his employees to communicate "to certain donors that they were expected to provide items of value, including campaign contributions, in return for certain past or prospective official actions in Reading and Allentown."

It wasn't just Fleck's role that made him an important piece to the investigation; he also reportedly wore a wire and secretly recorded clients of his H Street Strategies.

Throughout it all, the Department of Justice would only say public official No. 3 was a man elected to represent Allentown who also ran for state office, and specifically detailed that the official announced April 17 he was seeking a federal office.

Pawlowski previously ran for Pennsylvania governor, then announced on April 17 he was running for Pat Toomey's U.S. Senate seat. Days after the FBI raided Allentown City Hall, Pawlowski announced he was suspending his 2016 run for that seat.

While the investigation has trudged on, Pawlowski announced he was running for a fourth term as mayor. He won the Democratic nomination in May to appear on November's general election ballot.

Pawlowski began fundraising and his blue-and-white campaign signs popped up around the Queen City.

He gave his annual State of the City address where he urged Allentown to become a "city of kindness." Just last Thursday held a ceremony where he signed an ordinance banning conversion therapy for gay and trans minors in the city.

It was taking so long, that Allentown city council asked for the mayor's resignation and then, last week, passed a resolution asking the feds to hurry up with their investigation into the mayor.

His posts on Facebook and Twitter also did not hint anything was amiss in his administration, with photos from around Allentown and a post on Tuesday about a child's lemonade stand raising money for the Humane Society.

State Rep. Mike Schlossberg reiterated his call for the mayor to step down, with a tweet that said "Ed Pawlowski needs to resign as Mayor of Allentown. Now."

Others, like the International Association of Fire Fighters Local 302, welcomed the news.

Not so confident now! Maybe the prison band needs a new drummer. Well apparently there was something to the Federal... Posted by Local 302 Allentown International Association of Firefighters on Tuesday, July 25, 2017

Sarah Cassi may be reached at scassi@lehighvalleylive.com. Follow her on Twitter @SarahCassi. Find lehighvalleylive.com on Facebook.