Remember "Dollar Bill" Jefferson, my former Congressman who stashed $90,000 in cash in his freezer? The one who is now awaiting sentencing for his public corruption conviction?Remember his brother, Mose Jefferson? The one now awaiting sentencing for bribing a public official? The one scheduled for another trial in March for mail fraud, looting charities set up to access public funds to assist the impoverished, and a number of other naughtinesses?
Meet their sister, Betty Jefferson, 4th District Assessor for Orleans Parish, the lady in regal purple pictured above. Last Wednesday, she and her daughter, Angela Coleman, pleaded guilty to the federal raps of conspiracy to commit mail fraud, aggravated identity theft, money laundering and tax evasion.
The fun part? Ms. Jefferson and her offspring (obviously, the tainted nut doesn't fall far from the poison tree) will be testifying against good ol' Mose and his gal-pal, Renee Gill-Pratt, former state legislator and City Council member, in that March trial.
Yet another sister, Brenda Foster, pleaded guilty in 2008 in the upcoming foray into federal court, and agreed then to testify against Mose and Renee.
What a charming southern family. Wouldn't you just love to invite them all over for sweet tea and a spirited game of Backgammon? After you locked up all the family silver and heirlooms?
One Times-Picayune columnist, Stephanie Grace, echoed my feelings in her Sunday op-ed piece entitled, "Predatory Jeffersons": this family is nothing more than a band of amoral brigands aiming to "spread the wealth" from the public and the poor by channeling it to themselves. Her two closing paragraphs nail it:
In short, legal documents in this case paint a picture of a family willing to betray anyone and everyone around them, from their closest friends to their poorest constituents, for their own gain.
Whatever else Bill and Mose Jefferson did, that will be the final word on
the family's political legacy.
The scary part? Dollar Bill has five daughters, all Ivy League educated, and at least one of whom has already dabbled in politics.
Run for the hills and hide your assets!
Moogie, THAT'S RAAAAAAAAAACIST! Nyuk...
ReplyDeleteLord have mercy, the Jefferson Clan has always been a source of amazement to me.
We've got our shysters up here in NWLA...but the Jeffersons are in a class of their own.
the tainted nut doesn't fall far from the poison tree
ReplyDeleteTruer words, yadda, yadda. The amazing thing is Jefferson was so successful... up to a point. Well, mebbe not so amazing considering his constituency. Present company excepted, of course.
wv: benal. Um, no. That should be a "v."