Ex-Rep. William Jefferson Convicted of Bribery

After five days of deliberation, a federal jury in Virginia today found former Rep. William Jefferson (D-La.) guilty of soliciting bribes.

Jurors handed down guilty verdicts on 11 of 16 counts, according to a spokesman for the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia. Prosecutors had accused Jefferson of accepting $456,000 in kickbacks in return for using his congressional clout to set up business deals in Africa.

Jefferson’s case made national headlines in 2005 when FBI agents raided the congressman’s home and discovered $90,000 stashed in a freezer. Notably, the jury acquitted Jefferson on the one count related to that money — a charge that he had conspired to violate the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act.

Jefferson could face a maximum sentence of 150 years in prison. That scenario is unlikely, however, as it would mean being sentenced to serve time on each count consecutively.

The jury will reconvene tomorrow to decide whether Jefferson’s family must forfeit the $456,000 and related stock.

Comments

[jerry l. hermann]

I almost puked when I heard statements like 'his family has suffered so much." How? By getting Harvard educations with shake down money procured by their father in his numerous nefarious dealings. Does anyone think these Harvard educated smart Jefferson girls didn't know how their father, on the lowly salary of a congressman, was able to pay their way through the most expensive college arena in the world? The Jefferson girls ought to be required to give up their Ivy League degrees as ill gotten gains from their rotten father and mother. They surely knew or should have known that something was stinking in the freezer. Steal from the poor to give to themselves. How much did they know and when did they know it? And Uncle Mose too. Expose it all. This is a national shame.

[John Guest]

Jefferson was deemed by the court to have acted illegally in such a serious way that he could spend the rest of his life in prison, yet the jury has to decide whether he should give back the payment he received for those actions. Am I the only one that thinks this is strange? Does this option work for bank robbers and Ponzi fund managers too?

[bill green]

yes, justice for this scumbag. i hope he rots in prison