Gadaboutblogalot's Blog

We all remember deep-freeze Jefferson. He of the bribery cold cash. We now hear that after his conviction (August 5, 2009) he was sentenced (yesterday) to 13 years in the crossbar hotel. His case gained notoriety when federal authorities ran an informant based undercover operation, where the informant “bribed” Jefferson with a bundle of  legal tender.

Jefferson was charged with 16 counts related to his conduct and he was convicted of 11 of the counts.  The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) has reported extensively on the Jefferson story and on August 5th of this year, WSJ’s Law Blog contained this material:

The backstory: In 2007, Jefferson, was charged on 16 counts of bribery, racketeering, and violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. The government alleged that Jefferson used his congressional office to help promote business projects in western Africa in return for payments for his family. The most vivid evidence put on display: that feds found in Jefferson’s freezer $90,000 stuffed in Boca Burger and pie-crust boxes.

Yesterday, after Jefferson’s sentence was handed down WSJ’s Law Blog reported in part:

A federal judge in Alexandria, Va., handed down the sentence to Jefferson, 62, a Democrat whom voters ousted last year. He was convicted of bribery, money laundering and racketeering in schemes that prosecutors said he devised to enrich himself and his family. Click here for earlier LB coverage of the Jefferson saga; here for the Justice Department’s press release.

You can read yesterday’s Law Blog as well as previous blogs on the subject by clicking here

The Republicans have their own scandal opening up and we’ll comment on it in our next article.

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• Jefferson Sent to Prison (politicalwire.com)
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• Prosecutors Seek 27 Years for Ex-Lawmaker (time.com)