Disgraced Democrat William Jefferson arrives at U.S. District Court with his wife, Andrea, on June 9.
A federal court convicted former US Rep. William Jefferson of Louisiana on 11 of the 16 counts of corruption in a case that included the discovery of US $90,000 in his freezer.
The 62-year-old disgraced Democrat Congressman was found guilty on four bribery counts, three counts of money laundering, three counts of wire fraud and one count of racketeering. He was acquitted on five other counts including wire fraud and obstruction of justice. He faces a maximum of 150 years in prison and will be sentenced on October 30.
The verdict showed that “no person, not even a congressman, is above the law,” said U.S. Attorney Dana Boente of the Eastern District of Virginia. Boente pointed to the US $90,000 in marked bills agents found stashed in Jefferson’s freezer as a “powerful piece of evidence” proving the case. The money was part of a payment in marked bills from an FBI informant in a transaction captured on video.
In the case, Jefferson was accused of using his congressional clout between 2001 and 2005 to solicit and receive hundreds of thousands of dollars in bribes for himself and his family in exchange for promoting products and services in Africa, especially Nigeria, and elsewhere.
As a representative, Jefferson served on the House Ways and Means Committee’s subcommittee on trade and on the Budget Committee, and he co-chaired the caucus on Africa Trade and Investment as well as the caucus on Nigeria.
Jefferson’s lawyer, Robert Trout, said he was “disappointed” in the verdict and would launch an appeal.
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