Former Democrat Congressman William Jefferson Sentenced To 13 Years

Nola.com:

Former Rep. William Jefferson was sentenced today to 13 years in prison for his conviction on 11 counts of public corruption in a case in which he famously hid $90,000 in his freezer.

U.S. District Judge T.S. Ellis III delivered the sentence at a packed courtroom in the federal courthouse in Alexandria, Va. Prosecutors had asked for 27 to 33 years in prison, while Jefferson's lawyers said the prison term should be less than 10 years.

Jefferson stood stoically as the sentence was read, showing little emotion.

Ellis said that Jefferson, a New Orleans Democrat who served nine terms in Congress, must surrender at the federal correctional facility ultimately selected for his incarceration by the Bureau of Prisons.

Prosecutors had asked for 27 years, the Defense less than 10. The judge also the forfeiture of $470,653.47 to the government. Jefferson and his wife filed for bankruptcy recently and he owes his lawyers are owed $5.7 million. What a disgrace.

William "The Freezer" Jefferson Convicted In Bribery Cash Case

CNN.com:

Former U.S. Rep. William Jefferson of Louisiana was convicted Wednesday on 11 of the 16 corruption charges against him in a case that included the discovery of $90,000 in his freezer.

A federal court jury convicted Jefferson 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.

Jefferson, a 62-year-old Democrat, was indicted by a federal grand jury on June 4, 2007, about two years after federal agents said they found the cash in his freezer. Authorities said the cash was part of a payment in marked bills from an FBI informant in a transaction captured on video.

Jefferson had pleaded not guilty. He faces a maximum possible sentence of 150 years in prison, with sentencing tentatively set for October 30.

After the verdict on the fifth day of jury deliberations, U.S. District Judge T.S. Ellis turned down a prosecution request for Jefferson to be taken into custody, ruling that he posed no flight risk.

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. Asked what might have turned the case in the prosecution's favor, Boente said: "We always thought that a powerful piece of evidence in this case was $90,000 in a freezer."

According to the prosecutor, Jefferson could be looking at 20 years behind bars. Jefferson plans to appeal.

Black Liberals Turn Their Backs On William Jefferson

YahooNews.com:

The 2008 election year, overwhelmingly favorable to the Democratic Party, came to an improbable end Saturday as indicted nine-term Democratic Rep. William J. Jefferson lost his seat in Louisiana's 2nd Congressional District to Republican Anh "Joseph" Cao, a little-known lawyer. With all precincts reporting, Cao led Jefferson by 50 percent to 47 percent.

Although Jefferson's political shortcomings were glaring -- he is awaiting trial on federal corruption charges, including bribery -- the demographics of the New Orleans-based district still appeared to make him an overwhelming favorite for re-election. Jefferson has been one of the senior African-American members of Congress, and the black-majority district typically gives Democratic candidates about three-quarters of its votes.

But the very low turnout Saturday showed Jefferson was unable to persuade a sufficient number of voters to attend the general election, which was delayed to Dec. 6 because the scheduled Sept. 6 primary was postponed by Hurricane Gustav. Jefferson received just 25 percent of the vote over six Democratic opponents in the rescheduled Oct. 4 primary, though he did qualify for the general election by winning a runoff that coincided with the national Election Day of Nov. 4.

This is truly a shocker. I mean, as we've seen in the past with the re-elections of Marion Barry, Ray Nagin and most recently Willie Herenton, corrupt Black politicians usually get a pass from the black community because after all, they're black. And race matters much more to Black libs then such minor flaws as being an incompetent leader, or being downright sleazy or worse, being caught smoking crack in a hotel with your mistress. My guess is that all the notoriety from the $90k caught in Jefferson's freezer just finally did him in.