ALEXANDRIA, Va. - A former Louisiana congressman who famously hid $90,000 cash in his freezer was sentenced Friday to 13 years in prison for taking bribes, the longest term ever imposed on a congressman for bribery charges.
William Jefferson, a Democrat who represented parts of New Orleans for nearly 20 years, was convicted in August of taking roughly $500,000 in bribes and seeking millions more in exchange for using his influence to broker business deals in Africa.
The sentence, while severe, was still far less than the nearly 30 years prosecutors had sought.
Agents investigating the case found $90,000 wrapped in foil and hidden in boxes of frozen pie crusts in his freezer.
Prosecutors had asked a judge to follow federal guidelines and sentence him to at least 27 years, though the judge determined Friday that the sentencing guidelines should have been calculated at 22 years instead of 27.
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The defense asked for less than 10 years, arguing a stiffer sentence would be far longer than those imposed on congressmen convicted of similar crimes in recent years, none of whom was sentenced to more than a decade.
Prosecutor Mark Lytle said that, had Jefferson's schemes come to full fruition, he stood to reap hundreds of millions of dollars in 11 separate bribery schemes.
"His activity represented the most extensive and pervasive pattern of corruption in the history of Congress," Lytle said.
Defense attorney Robert Trout said that while his client acknowledged a level of responsibility for his conduct, he also believed that he was operating within the law. And he urged the judge to consider the fact that Jefferson lifted himself up from poverty to become the first African American to represent Louisiana in Congress since Reconstruction.
"He has led an extraordinary life," Trout said.
U.S. District Judge T.S. Ellis III said he did take Jefferson's life history into account but that public corruption must be dealt with severely.
"Public corruption is a cancer on the body politic," said Ellis, who lamented that so many other congressmen have been convicted on similar charges. "There must be some sort of greed virus that attacks those in power."
When sentenced, the laconic Jefferson showed no visible reaction to the verdict; nor did his wife and five adult daughters who attended the hearing.
Jefferson was allowed to remain free pending a hearing next week.
Prosecutors want him to begin serving his sentence immediately, while the defense wants Jefferson to remain free while he appeals his conviction.
Jefferson was also ordered to forfeit roughly $470,000 in bribery proceeds - the government expects to seize Jefferson's retirement savings and other assets to enforce the judgment. Jefferson, meanwhile, has filed for bankruptcy protection and his wife is claiming rights to some of those assets.
Because he was sentenced to more than 10 years, he needs a special waiver from the judge to be allowed to serve his time in a low-security prison camp.
Ellis agreed to recommend a waiver, but it will be up to the Bureau of Prisons to decide where Jefferson serves his time.
The investigation started in March 2005.
