From the New York Times:

Democratic Lawmaker Is Indicted

By DAVID STOUT

Published: June 4, 2007

WASHINGTON, June 4 — Representative William J. Jefferson of Louisiana was indicted today on corruption charges in connection with an inquiry that has yielded reports of cash stuffed into home freezers and murky financial transactions with several African countries in what Justice Department officials called a sordid episode of corruption that touched two continents..

A federal grand jury in Alexandria, Va., handed up the 16-count indictment against Mr. Jefferson, which was announced this afternoon by officials at the Justice Department in Washington. The charges include bribery, racketeering, money-laundering and obstruction of justice.

Mr. Jefferson, 60, whose New Orleans constituents elected him to a ninth term last year despite accusations of corruption, has denied wrongdoing. He is to be arraigned Friday morning in Alexandra.

On paper, Mr. Jefferson could be sentenced to up to 235 years in prison if convicted on all charges, although prosecutors acknowledged today that it is impossible to gauge at this point what his actual sentence would be — assuming he is convicted — because of the various sentencing guidelines that must be weighed.

Mr. Jefferson has been under suspicion in connection with his efforts to promote contracts in Africa for iGate, a small digital-technology company based in Louisville, Ky. The congressman has been influential on African issues in his years in the House.

According to the indictment, and as described by Justice Department officials, Mr. Jefferson put his office up for sale for five years, from August 2000 to August 2005, seeking to enrich himself to get cash and other “things of value” to advance the interests of people and businesses who offered him payoffs.

“The schemes charged are complex, but the essence of this case is simple,” said Charles Rosenberg, the United States attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia. “Mr. Jefferson corruptly traded on his good office, and on the Congress where he served as a member of the United States House of Representatives, to enrich himself and his family through a pervasive pattern of fraud, bribery and corruption.”

The head of the technology company, Vernon L. Jackson, has already pleaded guilty to paying more than $400,000 in bribes for Mr. Jefferson’s help, and he has been sentenced to seven years in prison. Brett M. Pfeffer, a former Congressional aide to Mr. Jefferson, has also pleaded guilty to corruption charges and has been sentenced to eight years in prison.

In 2005, as the inquiry progressed, F.B.I. agents raided Mr. Jefferson’s home, opened a freezer and found $90,000 in cash, money the investigators said was intended for a bribe of a Nigerian politician on behalf of Mr. Jackson.

In return for promoting the digital company in Africa, Mr. Jefferson demanded part-ownership of the business for his family, investigators have alleged. But the indictment and federal officials said Mr. Jefferson’s criminal dealings were not confined to the digital technology business but extended to oil concessions, satellite transmission contracts and other areas.

The investigation also caused an incident with constitutional implications when agents raided the Capitol Hill offices of Mr. Jefferson. Mr. Jefferson asserted that the raid was unconstitutional because of the separate of powers between the legislative and executive branches of government, and for a time investigators were blocked from reviewing the documents that were seized in the raid.

Investigators maintain that Mr. Jefferson prodded the Pentagon to test iGate products, lobbied politicians in several African countries to include the company in telecommunications projects, and repeatedly urged the Export-Import Bank of the United States to finance the deals.

In one instance, Mr. Jefferson solicited a bribe in a Congressional dining room, officials said today.

His dealings cost Mr. Jefferson a seat on the House Ways and Means Committee, when Democratic leaders voted last summer to oust him. Nevertheless, he captured more than 60 percent of the vote in his Congressional district last year.

Members of Congress may continue to serve while under indictment.

The case is being handled in Virginia because the case originated in McLean, Va., when a cooperating witness came forward, Justice Department officials said.

Mr. Rosenberg replied with some heat when he was asked how he would reply to someone who might wonder if the indictment was being announced now to deflect attention from the controversy over the firing of United States attorneys and other issues that have brought unwanted attention on Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales and his department.

“Frankly, we don’t give a damn about politics,” Mr. Rosenberg said. “He broke the law. Period.”