Patterico's Pontifications

8/5/2009

William Jefferson Convicted

Filed under: Crime,Government — DRJ @ 5:05 pm



[Guest post by DRJ]

An Alexandria, Virginia, federal jury today convicted former Louisiana Democratic Congressman William Jefferson of taking bribes. The evidence against him included $90,000 in cash “wrapped in foil and hidden in boxes of frozen pie crust” in his freezer. [EDIT: Jefferson wasn’t convicted on one count in which the government alleged these funds were to be used to bribe a foreign official. See below and Nola.com. H/T reff.]

Jefferson was convicted on 11 of 16 counts, and his case involved a legal issue of first impression:

“Jefferson was acquitted of counts that included obstruction of justice and violating the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. He was the first official to be charged with violating that act, which makes it illegal to bribe foreign government officials.

The defense argued that Jefferson was acting as a private business consultant in brokering the deals and that his actions did not constitute bribery under federal law.”

Jefferson’s trial lasted 8 weeks and the jury deliberated 5 days. The prosecutor said that Jefferson could be sentenced to 20 years under federal sentencing guidelines. Defense counsel says Jefferson will appeal.

— DRJ

26 Responses to “William Jefferson Convicted”

  1. Obviously a racist jury.

    Old Coot (83c1d1)

  2. Just another instance of whitey oppressing the black man.

    nk (46c97b)

  3. For a moment there, I thought it said “William Jefferson Clinton” convicted.

    Official Internet Data Office (55183e)

  4. Interestingly enough, the jury found him not guilty on the count that involved the $90K in the freeaer….but guilty on money laundering….

    and, of course, the media questioning him after let him slide on that “honorable explanation” about the money….

    Please media…do your job….

    On another “unrelated” note….my new congressman, Joseph Cao, Jefferson’s replacement, may not be as conservative as those who elected him….

    reff (ee9f7a)

  5. Thanks for the update, reff. I added the freezer info to the post with a Nola.com link.

    DRJ (8d138b)

  6. [object]has a good video on Jefferson’s response, and the same site has several videos on Jefferson’s “shady” actions….

    Hope I got the link to work….

    [note: fished from spam filter]

    reff (ee9f7a)

  7. Tried to link to local TV responses, but it’s caught in the filter….I’ll let DRJ pull it out, and thanks for the H/T….

    reff (ee9f7a)

  8. Mr Jefferson will appeal; his attorneys are looking forward to increased fees, paid in cold cash.

    The snarky Dana (474dfc)

  9. Surprised it took the jury that long.

    JEA (d081e5)

  10. Another news story, with some insight….[object]

    reff (ee9f7a)

  11. Congratulations to Mr. Jefferson. He might go to a country club for a bit, but his longevity in the Democratic Party is now assured.

    malclave (4f3ec1)

  12. […] Gateway Pundit, Michelle Malkin, , Macsmind, Flopping Aces, Blue Crab Boulevard Wizbang, Patterico’s Pontifications, Technorati Tags: Politics ,Opinion ,Corruption ,Democrats ,Liberals ,Race Baiting ,Al […]

    William Jefferson found guilty on 11 of 16 counts | Political Byline (e78bc3)

  13. Mr. Jefferson will appeal…directly to the Oval Office.

    AD - RtR/OS! (d614d2)

  14. Perhaps he will be given a “Czar” post while he is waiting for his appeal.

    PatAZ (9d1bb3)

  15. William Jefferson (D-Convicted)

    What more can I say? 😉

    MarkJ (d2394a)

  16. […] “Cold Cash” Jefferson has finally been convicted of bribery. Good riddance. Now let’s start going after the rest of the rascals in Congress. Related […]

    Throw away the key : Pursuing Holiness (e3cf16)

  17. This is not a negative to the Dems. It is a feature, not a bug.

    JD (06cd1d)

  18. Jefferson is already under contract to write a book about the whole thing, called “Dreams From My Freezer.”

    Official Internet Data Office (55183e)

  19. @ 18:

    I thought it was gonna be called “The Audacity of Taking Bribes”?

    What, too obvious?

    KingShamus (4fabb2)

  20. WHAT DO YOU CALL “COLD CASH” JEFFERSON WRAPPED IN CHAINS AND AT THE BOTTOM OF THE OCEAN??????????????????????????????????????

    I CALL IT A GOOD START !

    Lou (996c34)

  21. OH, by the way………..Lou is short for LOUISIANA !

    Lou (996c34)

  22. And the Dem-loving alphabet soup Mainstream Media’s coverage consists of: ……wait for it……….the sound of crickets chirping!

    Shit, I follow the news pretty closely and even I didn’t even know his damn trial had even started, and it started 8 bloody weeks ago for crying out loud. Oh, if only he had been an “R” then everyone in the whole world would know……

    J. Raymond Wright (d83ab3)

  23. you know, for some reason I didn’t catch this in my local Cox paper. If he’d only been Republican…

    texmarc (6cdd67)

  24. here it is,…in the obits section.

    texmarc (6cdd67)

  25. You are all racists. Just like the Obama Joker poster is racist. Vile racists you all are.

    JD (e6edba)

  26. Thank God that William Jefferson was convicted. What a crook! For about five minutes it’ll restore my faith in the judicial system. Hopefully, he’ll receive the maximum sentence. For those making the “racist” and “whitey” comments, give me a break and get a life. While you’re at it, look for a brain. Take a look at Jefferson’s write-up on Wikipedia. The educational opportunities that he and his family have had are just a little better than the average “whitey,” wouldn’t you say? I’ve never been to Harvard, nor has anyone in my family. I’m white; can I claim discrimination? And look at how many Jefferson family members have some kind of connection to criminal wrongdoing. It’s disgusting; throw this bum in jail and throw away the key.

    Mike Christie (e26029)


Powered by WordPress.

Page loaded in: 0.0852 secs.