Tuesday, March 27, 2012

When will this crook serve time?

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) - A federal appeals court in Virginia has affirmed most of a former Louisiana congressman's corruption convictions.

Former U.S. Rep. William Jefferson was convicted in 2009 on 11 counts of conspiracy, wire fraud, bribery, money laundering and racketeering. He was sentenced to 13 years in prison.

A three-judge panel of the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld convictions on 10 counts Monday. The court vacated one wire fraud count.

The 65-year-old Jefferson, a Democrat, was convicted of soliciting hundreds of thousands of dollars in bribes in exchange for using his influence to broker business deals with government leaders in Africa. In 2005, the FBI videotaped Jefferson accepting a briefcase filled with $100,000 in cash. Most of that money was later found hidden in pie crust boxes in Jefferson's freezer.

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