BOSTON - Former state Sen. Dianne Wilkerson pled not guilty on Monday to charges that she accepted bribes to help a Boston night club obtain a liquor license.

Wilkerson appeared at the U.S. District Court in Boston to be formally arraigned on eight counts of attempted extortion for allegedly accepting $23,500 in bribes. If she is convicted she faces 20 years in prison, three years supervised release, a $250,000 fine and a $100 special assessment fee per count.

Wilkerson arrived at the John Joseph Moakley Courthouse about 15 minutes before her scheduled appearance at 2:15 P.M. She was accompanied by her sons and her attorney Max Stern. Wilkerson declined to speak to reporters before or after the arraignment and sat nearly motionless throughout the proceeding, only jotting a few left-handed notes before the judge entered the courtroom.

The courtroom had far fewer people in it than when Wilkerson first appeared in court following her arrest at the end of October. In fact, the jury box of the courthouse was filled almost entirely with a delegation from Macedonia who knew very little about the case.