United States Congressman William J. Jefferson was indicted

By DAVID JOHNSTON and JEFF ZELENY
Published: June 4, 2007

WASHINGTON, June 4 — Representative William J. Jefferson of Louisiana was indicted today on corruption charges in connection with an inquiry that has yielded reports of cash stuffed into home freezers and murky financial transactions with several African countries in what Justice Department officials called a sordid episode of corruption that touched two continents.

A federal grand jury in Alexandria, Va., handed up the 16-count indictment against Mr. Jefferson, which was announced this afternoon by officials at the Justice Department in Washington. The charges include bribery, racketeering, money-laundering and obstruction of justice.

Mr. Jefferson, 60, whose New Orleans constituents elected him to a ninth term last year despite accusations of corruption, has denied wrongdoing. He is to be arraigned Friday morning in Alexandra.

On paper, Mr. Jefferson could be sentenced to up to 235 years in prison if convicted on all charges, although prosecutors acknowledged today that it is impossible to gauge at this point what his actual sentence would be — assuming he is convicted — because of the various sentencing guidelines that must be weighed.

Mr. Jefferson has been under suspicion in connection with his efforts to promote contracts in Africa for iGate, a small digital-technology company based in Louisville, Ky. The congressman has been influential on African issues in his years in the House.

According to the indictment, and as described by Justice Department officials, Mr. Jefferson put his office up for sale for five years, from August 2000 to August 2005, seeking to enrich himself to get cash and other “things of value” to advance the interests of people and businesses who offered him payoffs.

“The schemes charged are complex, but the essence of this case is simple,” said Charles Rosenberg, the United States attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia. “Mr. Jefferson corruptly traded on his good office, and on the Congress where he served as a member of the United States House of Representatives, to enrich himself and his family through a pervasive pattern of fraud, bribery and corruption.”

Full story: http://www.nytimes.com/2007/06/04/washington/04cnd-jeff.html?hp