Big T
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The more things change, the more they stay the same (Wish I could remember that in French)
A Louisiana congressman demanded bribes in exchange for his help in promoting a pair of business deals in Africa, according to court documents filed Wednesday in conjunction with a guilty plea by one of the congressman's former staffers.
Brett M. Pfeffer, 37, a former legislative director to Rep. William Jefferson, D-La., pleaded guilty Wednesday to aiding and abetting bribery of a public official and conspiracy in U.S. District Court in Alexandria. He faces a maximum of 20 years in prison when sentenced March 31.
Specifically, Pfeffer admitted in court that a congressman demanded a 5 to 7 percent stake in two companies that were to be formed in conjunction with two telecommunications deals he was promoting in Nigeria and Ghana.
Neither Pfeffer nor the court documents specifically name the congressman - documents refer to him only as "Representative A." But the court papers make clear that Jefferson is the congressman who allegedly solicited the bribes.
The plea documents, for instance, note that Pfeffer was employed as a legislative assistant by the congressman from 1995 through 1998, holding titles including legislative director.
Pfeffer's spokeswoman, Melanie Roussell, declined comment except to confirm that Pfeffer worked for Jefferson in the mid 1990s. Jefferson's lawyer, Mike Fawer, said Wednesday he would not comment until he had spoken to Jefferson, who was traveling in Europe.
Pfeffer, of Herndon, Va., agreed as part of the plea bargain to cooperate with prosecutors' investigation and testify if needed against any coconspirators. The Justice Department said in a release Wednesday that its investigation of the case is ongoing.
The conspiracy occurred in 2004 and 2005, many years after Pfeffer had left Jefferson's office.
Pfeffer's attorney, Paul Knight, declined comment Wednesday.
The investigation of Jefferson is independent of the ongoing probe into the dealings of Jack Abramoff, who pleaded guilty last week to federal charges in a probe that is now focused on several members of Congress and their aides, including a former aide for former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay.
Pfeffer said during Wednesday's plea hearing that the congressman approached him in 2004 about a business opportunity in Nigeria. Pfeffer said he passed the information on to a co-worker at a McLean, Va., investment company that is not identified in court records. That company eventually agreed to invest $45 million in the deal.
"At a subsequent meeting, the congressman told me he would require a stake" in the company, Pfeffer told U.S. District Judge T.S. Ellis III. The congressman also demanded that a family member receive a $2,500 to $5,000 monthly retainer with the new company.
Court records give no indication exactly how much money Jefferson stood to receive. The amount will be determined as part of a pre-sentence investigation that will help determine exactly how much jail time Pfeffer would serve under federal sentencing guidelines.
In exchange for the bribe, Jefferson was to promote the deal to high-ranking Nigerian officials and also lobbied for the Export-Import Bank of the United States to provide loans to facilitate the deal, prosecutors said.
Prosecutor Mark Lytle said the congressman and Pfeffer traveled to Ghana in July to promote a similar deal there.
The deals were to have involved a Kentucky-based technology company that specialized in providing high-speed Internet service over Nigeria's copper telephone wires.
The company is not named in the plea documents, but the investigation has focused on Jefferson's dealings with a privately held technology company, iGate Inc. in Louisville, Ky., which was seeking telecommunications contracts in Nigeria.
The charges stem from an ongoing investigation that became public in August when the FBI raided Jefferson's home and, according to published reports, carted off cash from a freezer.
The FBI also raided the Maryland home of Nigerian Vice President Atiku Abubakar, seeking documents connecting him and his wife, Jennifer, to the congressman and the telecommunications deal.
Jefferson was first elected to the House in 1990, becoming the first black congressman from Louisiana since Reconstruction. He represents most of New Orleans, including sections of the city that were hardest hit by Hurricane Katrina.
He was criticized after the hurricane for receiving a National Guard escort to check on his flooded home at a time when federal resources were sorely strained.
U.S. Attorney Paul McNulty, whose office prosecuted the case, said in a statement: "Ensuring honest government for American taxpayers is among the highest priorities of the Department of Justice. This conviction is another demonstration of our commitment to that principle."
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Associated Press writer Mark Sherman contributed to this report from Washington.
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