Former state Sen. Raphael John "Ray" Musto, 85, has died.

Musto, who was released from a federal medical center in Butner, North Carolina, earlier this month, was suffering from lymph cell cancer.He had been in the facility for about two months after U.S. District Judge A. Richard Caputo in January deemed him unfit to stand trial on corruption charges, due to mental instability.Musto, a Democrat, had served eight years as a state representative for Luzerne County, and 28 years as state senator.He retired in 2010, a week after a federal grand jury indicted him on charges of taking $25,000 in kickbacks cash and a "stream of benefits," according to authorities from a developer with projects in Luzerne and Lackawanna counties. the kickbacks were in exchange for Musto to get state funding to back the projects.Musto was charged with bribery, mail fraud, wire fraud and making false statements to Federal Bureau of Investigation agents.In 2011, State Sen. John Yudichak won Musto's 14th District seat.