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Another former member of Congress now has to worry about the federal sentencing guidelines

By Douglas A. Berman

As detailed in this New York Times piece, another prominent politician who once only worried about what federal sentencing rules meant for others now has to worry a lot about what these rules might mean for him: Former Representative William J. Jefferson was convicted Wednesday afternoon of using his office to try to enrich himself and relatives through a web of bribes and payoffs involving business ventures in Africa. A federal court jury in Alexandria, Va., deliberated for five days before finding Mr. Jefferson, 62, a New Orleans Democrat who served in Congress for 18 years until being defeated in 2008, guilty of 11 of 16 counts of bribery-related crimes.  The jurors thus rejected defense assertions that Mr. Jefferson?s business-promotion activities in Africa did not qualify as ?official acts? under public corruption laws...continue to full post

Full post as published by Sentencing Law and Policy on August 05, 2009 (boomark / email).