US ex-lawmaker gets 13 years

in prison for cold cash conviction

Sunday, November 15, 2009
WASHINGTON: A disgraced former US congressman who stashed $90,000 in his freezer was sentenced to 13 years in prison Friday for accepting hundreds of thousands of dollars in bribes.

William Jefferson, a Democratic lawmaker who represented a district in the southern state of Louisiana that included part of New Orleans, was convicted in August on 11 of 16 counts, including bribery, money laundering and racketeering involving businesses in Africa.

The 13-year prison sentence, far less than the 27 years recommended by prosecutors, is said to be the longest prison term ever for a US lawmaker convicted on charges of corruption. The previous record came in 2006, when former Republican congressman Randall “Duke” Cunningham received a prison sentence of eight years and four months for accepting bribes from defence contractors.

Jefferson, 62, was also ordered to forfeit more than $470,000 in assets. “In a stunning betrayal of the public’s trust, former congressman Jefferson repeatedly used his public office for private gain,” Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Mythili Raman said in a statement.

“The lengthy prison sentence imposed on Mr Jefferson today is a stark reminder to all public officials that the consequences of accepting bribes can and will be severe.” US District Court Judge TS Ellis III handed down Jefferson’s sentence at an Alexandria, Virginia courtroom just outside Washington.

“We expect to file an appeal at the appropriate time,” Jefferson’s attorney Amy Jackson told AFP. She declined to comment on the sentence. Following a six-week trial, the jury found that from 2000 to 2005, Jefferson used his post as a US lawmaker to obtain hundreds of thousands of dollars in bribes from oil, communications, sugar and other companies in Nigeria, Ghana, Botswana, Equatorial Guinea and the Democratic Republic of Congo.

In turn, he advanced the interests of the businesses and individuals who paid the bribes, namely through his seat on the powerful House Ways and Means Committee, the chamber’s top tax-writing panel, without disclosing his own financial dealings with the ventures.

“Mr Jefferson’s repeated attempts to sell his office caused significant damage to the public’s trust in our elected leaders,” said US Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia Neil MacBride. Jefferson’s indictment in 2007, which followed a huge FBI corruption probe, listed a series of alleged schemes in Africa, including telecommunications deals, oil concessions, satellite transmission contracts and the development of industrial plants and other facilities.

The case came to light in August 2005, when the Federal Bureau of Investigation raided Jefferson’s Washington home and found the cold cash, allegedly bribe money intended for the former Nigerian vice president, wrapped in aluminium foil and hidden in frozen food containers in his freezer.

In May 2006, FBI agents raided his congressional office, the first raid of its kind, in a move denounced by both Democratic and Republican lawmakers. Despite the exhaustive investigation, Jefferson won re-election in 2006 but lost a bid to keep his seat last year.