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William Jefferson Biography

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William J. Jefferson was born on 1947 in Lake Providence, Louisiana. He grew up in poverty, yet he surpassed his family’s financial standing by focusing on his academics. In 1969 he graduated with a Bachelor’s from Southern University Agricultural and Mechanical College. He earned a scholarship and in 1972 he earned a Juris Doctor (J.D.) degree from Harvard Law School. Jefferson received his Master of Laws in taxation from Georgetown University. His work in politics began after receiving his Master of Laws when he worked as a law clerk for Alvin B Robin a U.S. District Court Judge; he then serviced as a legislative assistant for Senator J. Bennet Johnston of Louisiana from 1973 – 1975. He won a Senate seat for the state of Louisiana in the …show more content…

He used his position as a member in the Ways and Means committee as his primary resource to bribe U.S. companies that worked on oil, communications, and sugar, including others to fund for ‘projects’ in Africa. In return he promised to promote the companies, which would ultimately increase their profits. The FBI began to look at William J. Jefferson in 2005 when they had received information that he was using his position in the House to solicit bribes from U.S. companies to Africa. It is calculated that Jefferson had earned approximately $400,000 to $500,000. In one case the FBI had footage of Jefferson receiving $100,000 to pay off an African government official from a cooperative witness. As a result, within days the FBI had a search warrant for Jefferson’s home. Upon searching they found $90,000 in his freezer which were wrapped in aluminum foil and placed in a dessert box. When searching his office, they were able to obtain documents that were served later used as evidence for his bribery schemes. Through the use of witnesses that were cooperative, phone recordings, video surveillance monitoring, and financial records analysis form the FBI enough evidence was compiled to charge William J. Jefferson for bribery, racketeering ( fraudulent business earnings ), and money

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