The corruption case against then Louisiana Representative William J. Jefferson in the United States started on a suspicion of bribery. The FBI raided his Congressional offices in May 2006. He was re-elected to his seat in the fall. On June 4, 2007, a federal grand jury indicted Jefferson on sixteen charges related to corruption.[1] Jefferson was defeated by Republican Joseph Cao on December 6, 2008,[2] and was the most senior Democratic incumbent to lose re-election that year.[3] In 2009 he was tried in the US District Court in Virginia on corruption charges.[4] On August 5, 2009, he was found guilty of 11 of the 16 corruption counts.[5] Jefferson was sentenced to 13 years on November 13, 2009 - the longest sentence ever given to a representative for bribery or any charge.[6]
After a related bribery case was heard by the United States Supreme Court (McDonnell v. United States (2016), Jefferson's lawyers appealed his case. In view of the findings by the Supreme Court, District Judge T.S. Ellis III dropped seven of the ten charges on which Jefferson had been convicted and ordered his release from prison on October 5, 2017. On December 1, 2017, a federal judge reduced his sentence to time served: five years and five months, based on a joint recommendation by the prosecutors and defense attorneys.[7]
- ^ Johnston, David & Zeleny, Jeff (2007-06-05). "Congressman Sought Bribes, Indictment Says". The New York Times. Retrieved 2007-06-05.
- ^ "Louisiana congressman loses re-election bid". CNN. 2008-12-07. Retrieved 2008-12-07.
- ^ See NNDB.com, Jefferson article in NNDB Beta, which includes a list of his family members. See also New York Times articles on Jefferson.
- ^ "Trial of former U.S. Rep. William Jefferson begins today in Virginia", in Times-Picayune, 9 June 2009
- ^ "William Jefferson verdict: Guilty on 11 of 16 counts" in Times-Picayune, August 5, 2009
- ^ NPR.org Archived November 22, 2009, at the Wayback Machine
- ^ AP, "No more prison time for William Jefferson, judge rules", Times-Picayune, 1 December 2017