Former U.S. Representative William Jefferson of Louisiana was convicted Wednesday on 11 of the 16 corruption charges against him.  This was the case that broke when the FBI discovered $90,000 of marked bribery money in his freezer.  A federal court jury convicted Jefferson on four counts of bribery, three counts of money laundering, three counts of wire fraud, and one count of racketeering.

Jefferson, a 62-year-old Democrat, faces a maximum sentence of 150 years in prison.  He is scheduled to be sentenced October 30th.

After the verdict, the judge denied a prosecution request for Jefferson to be taken into custody immediately, ruling that Jefferson did not pose a flight risk.

The verdict showed that “no person, not even a congressman, is above the law,” said U.S. Attorney Dana Boente.  When asked what won the case for the prosecution, Boente said: “We always thought that a powerful piece of evidence in this case was $90,000 in a freezer.”

When will our politicians learn that when you break the law, you will eventually get caught?  In today’s environment of hyper-partisanship, microscopic scrutiny of politician’s lives, and a 24-hour news cycle, politicians can run but they cannot hide.

Story at CNN

Alaska Republican Senator Ted Stevens has been convicted on federal corruption charges.  “I am innocent,” the 84-year-old Stevens said in a written statement.  “I will fight this unjust verdict with every ounce of energy I have.”

Stevens was convicted of seven counts of making false statements on Senate ethics forms in order to hide hundreds of thousands of dollars in gifts and work on his Alaska home by an oil contractor who is currently target of a corruption investigation.

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