BOSTON -- Former Massachusetts State Sen. Dianne Wilkerson and Boston City Councilor Chuck Turner were indicted Tuesday afternoon as co-conspirators on a federal public corruption charge.

U.S. Attorney Michael J. Sullivan, FBI and Boston police investigators announced Tuesday Wilkerson, 53, Turner, 68, were charged by federal indictment.

Wilkerson and Turner were charged with conspiring to extort cash under color of official right. Turner is also charged with one count of attempted extortion under color of official right in connection with his acceptance of $1,000 in cash to assist a Boston-area businessman obtain a liquor license, and three counts of false statements to FBI agents, investigators said.

In total, the indictment handed down charges Wilkerson with nine federal felonies and Turner with five federal felonies. The indictment also seeks forfeiture of the funds paid to Wilkerson and Turner by undercover agents and a cooperating witness as part of an 18-month covert investigation into their alleged corrupt activities.

If convicted, Wilkerson faces up to 20 years imprisonment, three years of supervised release and a $250,000 fine on each of the nine charges.

If convicted, Turner faces up to 20 years imprisonment, three years of supervised release and a $250,000 fine on each of the two extortion charges. He faces up to five years imprisonment, three years of supervised release and a $250,000 fine on each of the three false statement charges.

Turner's lawyer, Barry P. Wilson, said his client broke no laws.

"I don't know what they're talking about -- conspiracy," Wilson said. "He didn't attempt to extort anything from anybody. As to the statements to the FBI agents, that's a setup. To me, it's just a lack of real credibility in the case that they go out of their way to create something."