Ex-Rep. Jefferson Convicted in Bribery Scheme
Sign in to Recommend
comments (37)
Sign In to E-Mail
Print
Reprints
ShareClose
LinkedinDiggFacebookMixxMySpaceYahoo! BuzzPermalinkBy DAVID STOUT
Published: August 5, 2009
WASHINGTON — Former Representative William J. Jefferson was convicted Wednesday afternoon of using his office to try to enrich himself and relatives through a web of bribes and payoffs involving business ventures in Africa.
Skip to next paragraph
Enlarge This Image
Kevin Wolf/Associated Press
Former Louisiana Rep. William Jefferson and his wife, Andrea, left the federal court in Alexandria, Va., on Wednesday.
Related
Times Topics: William J. Jefferson
Indictment ( U.S. v. Jefferson) (findlaw.com)
A Conviction
A timeline of the bribery probe of former Representative William J. Jefferson, Democrat of Louisiana.
Readers' Comments
Share your thoughts.
Post a Comment »
Read All Comments (37) »
A federal court jury in Alexandria, Va., deliberated for five days before finding Mr. Jefferson, 62, a New Orleans Democrat who served in Congress for 18 years until being defeated in 2008, guilty of 11 of 16 counts of bribery, racketeering and money laundering. He was acquitted of obstruction of justice and violating the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, which makes it illegal to bribe foreign government officials.
Mr. Jefferson faces more than 20 years in prison under federal guidelines when he is sentenced on Oct. 30, prosecutors told The Associated Press. Prosecutors wanted Mr. Jefferson, 62, detained immediately after the verdict on grounds that his ties to Africa made him a flight risk, but Judge T. S. Ellis III allowed him to remain free on bond, citing his local ties.
Mr. Jefferson’s chief lawyer, Robert Trout, told The A.P. that he would appeal.
In a six-week trial, prosecutors said that from 2000 to 2005, Mr. Jefferson sought hundreds of thousands of dollars in bribes from a dozen companies involved in oil, communications, sugar and other businesses, often for projects in Africa.
In return, prosecutors said, Mr. Jefferson used his position as a member of the House Ways and Means trade subcommittee to promote the companies’ ventures without disclosing his own financial stakes in the deals.
Mr. Jefferson led official delegations to Africa, wrote letters to American and foreign officials and had members of his staff promote ventures in Nigeria, Ghana and Equatorial Guinea in which he had a financial interest, prosecutors said. While he sought millions of dollars in bribes, Mr. Jefferson may have actually received less than $400,000, the prosecutors said.
The government’s case relied partly on former Jefferson aides and business associates who pleaded guilty and agreed to testify against him. Mr. Jefferson did not testify in his own defense, and Judge Ellis cautioned the jurors that they were not to hold that decision against him.
Mr. Trout argued, unsuccessfully, that Mr. Jefferson’s business-promotion activities in Africa did not qualify as “official acts” under public corruption laws, and that while some of his actions may have been stupid, they were not criminal.
As it unfolded over several years, the Jefferson case set off a government battle of constitutional proportions. It also had hints of international intrigue and elements of near-comedy, as when the Federal Bureau of Investigation found $90,000 neatly wrapped in aluminum foil and placed in Mr. Jefferson’s home freezer.
The constitutional clash unfolded after F.B.I. agents raided Mr. Jefferson’s Congressional office in May 2006, the first time the bureau had searched a Congressional office. The raid was denounced by lawmakers in both parties who said that the Justice Department, through the F.B.I., had committed an unconstitutional intrusion on Congressional independence.
A federal judge upheld the raid, but an appeals court ruled that it was constitutionally flawed and that some documents should be returned to Mr. Jefferson. The Supreme Court let that ruling stand.
As for the money in the freezer, agents found it in a raid at Mr. Jefferson’s home in August 2005. Prosecutors said it was from a Kentucky businessman and was supposed to be used to bribe a high official of Nigeria, later identified as the vice president, Atiku Abukaer, who denied being part of any scheme. |
