A former eastern Kentucky mayor pleads guilty to federal charges.

Just one week before a federal trial former Manchester Mayor Daugh White says he's guilty of taking part in a racketeering ring while in office and extorting thousands of taxpayer dollars.

Many people are breathing a sigh of relief in Clay County, after their former mayor admitted to corruption that residents here say they have known about for years, but couldn't do anything about.

Monday morning former Mayor Daugh White pleaded guilty to two of the thirteen federal charges against him, which included racketeering and extorting nearly 70-thousand dollars.

Manchester residents that lived under the leadership of former Mayor Daugh White say they knew their city was corrupt, but didn't know what to do about it.

Monday, White's lawyer Burl McCoy said the former mayor realized that with the charges against him, this just wasn't a case he could win.

McCoy also says White just wants to come clean

Recently, new mayor Carmen Lewis and the city council renamed Manchester to "the City of Hope" a name that seems particularly appropriate in a city where its residents had seemed to lose all hope.

Daugh White faces a maximum penalty of $250,000 and 20 years in jail.

He's scheduled to be sentenced November 19th.

Former Assistant Chief of Police Todd Roberts and former city council member Darnell Hipsher are still awaiting the federal trial next Tuesday.