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Federal prisoner William Jefferson can expect a sleepless night
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Candidate
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| Contributor | Brandonius Maximus |
| Last Edited | Brandonius Maximus May 04, 2012 09:57am |
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| Category | Commentary |
| Author | Jarvis DeBerry |
| Media | Newspaper - New Orleans Times-Picayune |
| News Date | Friday, May 4, 2012 03:00:00 PM UTC0:0 |
| Description | He was born poor in one of the nation's most forsaken places, received a legal education at one of the world's most exclusive universities and became a stand-out during his nine terms in the U.S. House of Representatives. But all of that -- the poverty of Lake Providence, the prestige of Harvard Law School, the power of the Ways and Means Committee -- is now in William Jefferson's past. Today the 65-year-old becomes a federal prisoner. He's been sentenced to 13 years.
The evidence of his corruption was overwhelming. During his trial in 2009 even his attorney acknowledged that receiving a briefcase with $100,000 and promising to bribe a Nigerian vice president was "stupid," an "exercise in poor judgment," unethical and not appropriate.
For all those reasons -- and for his continued insistence that he broke no law -- there will be some cheers when Jefferson reports to prison today.
But there ought to be sadness, too. For Louisiana, from which some public official seems to always be headed to jail. And for the people, those who were inspired by Jefferson's ascent and devastated by his fall. |
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