BALTIMORE (AP) - The wife of state Sen. Ulysses Currie is scheduled to testify in the federal corruption case against her husband.

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Shirley Currie is expected to appear on Thursday, a day after former Maryland Gov. Robert Ehrlich described the senator as a friend and a gentleman in the years he has known him.

Sen. Currie, a Prince George's County Democrat, is charged with using his former position as chairman of the Senate Budget and Taxation Committee to benefit the Shoppers Food Warehouse supermarket chain. He was paid more than $245,000 by Shoppers between 2003 and 2007.

His defense contends he only worked as a consultant and did nothing illegal, while prosecutors claim that the payments were bribes and extortion for his help with a variety of issues.