Congressman’s Sister Pleads GuiltyOne day after Rep. William Jefferson (D-LA) announced he will seek re-election despite his upcoming federal trial, his sister pleaded guilty in a federal court in New Orleans.
From the New Orleans Times-Picayune:
Brenda Jefferson, a younger sister of embattled U.S. Rep. William Jefferson, pleaded guilty this afternoon to concealing her knowledge of an alleged conspiracy to take money from nonprofits that involved several of her relatives.The alleged conspiracy was the centerpiece of an recent indictment charging her sister, 4th District Assessor Betty Jefferson, her brother, political strategist Mose Jefferson, and her niece, Angela Coleman, with plundering more than $600,000 from three charities they controlled.
Brenda Jefferson, who also goes by the name Brenda Foster, signed a summary of the government’s case against her in which she says that Coleman and Betty Jefferson made out a series of checks to her but then deposited the money in their own accounts.
Jefferson is awaiting trial on separate corruption charges in Virginia.