William J. Jefferson corruption case
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.
[8] On 30 July 2005, Jefferson was videotaped by the FBI receiving $100,000 worth of $100 bills in a leather briefcase at the Ritz-Carlton hotel in Arlington, Virginia.
[10] After the raid, one of Democrat Jefferson's staunchest defenders in the turf battles between the FBI and Congress became Dennis Hastert, who was the Republican Speaker of the House.
In January 2006, Brett M. Pfeffer, a former aide to Jefferson, implicated him in a corruption scheme involving an Internet company being set up in Nigeria.
On January 11, 2006, in federal court in Alexandria, Virginia, Pfeffer pleaded guilty to charges of conspiracy and aiding and abetting bribery of a public official.
[16] "Many Republicans and Democrats contend that the unprecedented raid on a congressional office was unduly aggressive and may have breached the constitutional separation of powers between the executive and legislative branches of government that are meant to shelter lawmakers from administrative intimidation.
[19] Representative James Sensenbrenner, chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, began to hold hearings – called "Reckless Justice: Did the Saturday Night Raid of Congress Trample the Constitution?"
[20] An ABC News poll released 1 June 2006 found 86% of Americans supported the FBI's right to search congressional offices when they obtain a warrant.
[21] On July 10, 2006, Chief Judge Thomas F. Hogan for the United States District Court for the District of Columbia, ruled that the FBI raid on Jefferson's office was legal,[22] rejecting the claim of both Jefferson and the Bipartisan Legal Advisory Group of the United States House of Representatives that the search violated the Constitution's Speech or Debate Clause, separation of powers principle, and the Fourth Amendment.
Chief Judge Hogan, in a 28-page ruling, acknowledged that the "facts and questions of law presented here are indeed unprecedented", but wrote that it is "well-established" that a Congressman is "generally bound to the operation of the criminal laws as are ordinary persons", and that the Speech or Debate Clause does not "make Members of Congress super-citizens, immune from criminal responsibility.
The Court declines to extend those protections further, holding that the Speech or Debate Clause does not shield Members of Congress from the execution of valid search warrants.
Congressman Jefferson's interpretation of the Speech or Debate privilege would have the effect of converting every congressional office into a taxpayer-subsidized sanctuary for crime.
The appellate court directed that Hogan, the judge who originally authorized the controversial search and seizure, should ascertain whether Jefferson's claims of legislative privilege extended to specific seized files that the lawmaker might cite.
[citation needed] The full House, the only group with the power to remove Jefferson, stripped him of his seat on the committee on June 16 in a voice vote without debate.
Jefferson had offered to step aside temporarily if the Democratic caucus established a rule concerning cases like his and if his seat went to Rep. Charlie Melancon (D-LA).
[42] On May 27, after a contentious hearing with defense attorney Robert Trout and prosecutor Mark Lytle, Judge T. S. Ellis III delayed the trial opening until June 9.
[43] About the same time, developments surrounding Gill Pratt's decision to go on an unpaid leave of absence from her administrative job at Southern University at New Orleans prompted columnist Stephanie Grace to surmise that Jefferson was losing his clout at the New Orleans institution, where his wife Andrea Green Jefferson is also an administrator.
First, Angela Coleman (the former congressman's niece through his wife), told a federal court that she could not afford to continue hiring lawyer John Fuller; the court-assigned public defender Virginia Schlueter to the case, which concerns Coleman's alleged involvement in misappropriation (of more than $600,000 in state and federal grant funding) by Betty Jefferson, Mose Jefferson, and Renée Gill Pratt.
[47] Second, a transcript of tapes of a 2005 dinner conversation between William J. Jefferson and Lori Mody, Virginia businesswoman and prosecution witness, obtained by the Times-Picayune, was so clear as to include observations of their dessert preferences and noted "stomach grumbling" sounds.
[53] On July 7, 2009, a federal jury was shown a video of Jefferson accepting a suitcase filled with $100,000 in cash outside a Northern Virginia hotel.
The jury also found ANJ Group could be required to surrender millions of shares of stock in a Kentucky technology company and a Nigerian telecommunications venture.
[61] On May 1, 2015, the Louisiana Supreme Court permanently disbarred Jefferson based on his behavior "us[ing] his congressional office for fraudulent and illegal activities by soliciting bribes in exchange for official acts."
This behavior closely matched Louisiana Supreme Court Rule XIX, Appendix E, Guideline 7, which suggests that permanent disbarment may be appropriate when there is "[m]alfeasance in office which results in a felony conviction, and which involves fraud.
Ellis III reviewed Jefferson's case, dropping seven of the most substantial of the ten charges and ordering on October 5, 2017 that he be released from prison, until the government decides on sentencing or other actions.
On December 1, 2017, a federal judge reduced Jefferson's sentence to time served: five years and five months, based on a joint recommendation by the prosecutors and defense attorneys.
