Congressman With Cold Cash In Freezer Convicted

The former Congressman, age 62, was found guilty in federal court in Alexandria, Va. Jefferson faces more than 20 years in prison after being found guilty of of 11 of 16 criminal counts including bribery, racketeering, money laundering and wire fraud. He will remain free until sentencing on October 30. The jury is scheduled to convene again to decide whether Jefferson will face forfeiture of up to $456,000 plus stock certificates.

"We have been reminded today that we are a nation of laws and not men," said Dana J. Boente, U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia. "It should be a clear signal that no public official -- and certainly not a U.S. Congressman can put their office up for sale and betray that office."

Jefferson's indictment on graft charges, along with other Congressional scandals, provided momentum to the biggest overhaul of ethics rules on Capitol Hill since the Watergate scandal inviolving former President Richard Nixon.
The discovery of bundles of cash wrapped in aluminum foil and packed into pie boxes in his freezer made Jefferson a target of late-night TV comics. The sharecropper's son who attended Harvard Law School and, in 1990, became the first African American elected to Congress from Louisiana since Reconstruction, was accused of soliciting bribes in exchange for using his office to promote business interests in Africa.

"We are of course very disappointed by the verdict. We did not believe the government had proven its case," Jefferson's attorney, Robert P. Trout, wrote in an e-mail to The Los Angeles Times. "While the jury agreed with us in acquitting Mr. Jefferson on some of the counts, including the count charging him with violating the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act -- which was the count relating to the money in the freezer -- we will continue to pursue the legal challenges we have made to the remaining counts."

In 2005 federal agents began investigating the Congressman's role in promoting a technology company seeking to gain a foothold in Africa. A suspicious investor contacted the FBI and agreed to wear a wire to transmit conversations. According to the indictment, Jefferson told the investor that he would need money to bribe a Nigerian official.

Jefferson received $100,000 in marked bills, according to the indictment. Federal agents found $90,000 of the bills wrapped in aluminum foil in the freezer of Jefferson's home in Washington. Evidence in the trial showed that Jefferson had "performed a wide range of official acts in return for things of value, including leading official business delegations to Africa, corresponding with U.S. and foreign government officials, and utilizing congressional staff members to promote businesses and businesspersons," according to the U.S. attorney's office.