BOSTON -- State Sen. Dianne Wilkerson plans to continue her re-election campaign amid accusations that she took thousands of dollars in bribes from undercover agents posing as businessmen.

Video | Wilkerson's Statement | Undercover Photos | PDF: Criminal Complaint

Wilkerson allegedly accepted thousands of dollars in cash bribes at Beacon Hill area restaurants in exchange for her help securing a liquor license for a nightclub and her influence designating state land for private development.

"I would like the voters of the 2nd Suffolk Senate District to know that I am staying the course of my campaign for re-election on November 4. Not only does this represent the biggest challenge in my personal and political life, but it will test to the limit the notion of innocent until proven guilty," Wilkerson said in a statement late Wednesday.

She lost in the October Democratic primary race to challenger Sonia Chang-Diaz, but she hoped to win re-election with write-in votes. In the statement, she also criticized US Attorney Michael J. Sullivan for filing the charges so close to the election.

"In one fell swoop and even before an indictment has been returned, he's sought to imperil my re-election campaign and has set much of the state's Democratic leadership back on its heels. He brought this issue forward at this time knowing full well that I would never have an opportunity to have my day in court prior to Nov. 4," Wilkerson said.

The FBI released a series of photos that allegedly show Wilkerson accepting cash. One photo shows the senator allegedly shoving money into her bra.

The 53-year-old Democrat appeared in federal court Tuesday on charges of attempted extortion as a public official and theft of honest services as a state senator and was freed on $50,000 bond.

Meanwhile, Wilkerson's attorney urged against a rush to judgment.

"Despite the pictures that the United States attorney has chosen to show just a week before the election, I'm sure you know that there's a context to every one of the interactions you've been told about," Max Stern said.

Her legal troubles are only the latest in a string of controversies that have swirled around her since her 1992 election to the Statehouse, including tax evasion charges and accusations of lying in connection with a murder case.

It was two months ago that Wilkerson told NewsCenter 5 that her problems were behind her. The senator had just been hit with a $10,000 fine by the attorney general's office for campaign finance violations.

In a career of alleged financial and ethical wrongdoing it was not her first penalty, but during the interview, she said it was her last.

"Oh, it's done. There is nothing. No outstanding matter," Wilkerson said in late August as she prepared for a tough primary election that she would go on to lose.

She was confident that was the last of her problems.

"I think it's a character flaw, " Wilkerson said.

She was not contrite about her checkered past of tax evasion, house arrest and a suspended law license. She suggested her problems resulted from selflessness.

"You know why I say that because no matter how much I know, I have never been able to put my own stuff priority of importance over other people that I see that I think need me more," she said.

The one-time welfare mother who worked her way through law school and eventually to Beacon Hill as a champion of good government was feeling proud about her legislative accomplishments.

"I think I've come off the most productive two-year term," she said.

This was the period that the FBI said she was engaging in old-school political corruption.

Wilkerson gave NewsCenter 5 an example of how her concern for others sometimes puts her and her family second.

"I've had days when I go home and probably two or three times, I turn on the lights and the lights doesn't don't come on. And I say, 'God, when did I last pay an electric bill?'" Wilkerson said.

She said that her career choice as a legislator had caused severe financial struggle.

"That shift from leaving the private sector and coming here -- taking the $60,000 pay cut. I was a partner then. I had $35,000. I will tell you that was a major adjustment for me. Thought I had a plan for how I was going to do it. So the plan didn't work out, and so it's not that simple," Wilkerson said.