Brother of Louisiana's indicted Rep. Jefferson charged in unrelated New Orleans bribery case
By CAIN BURDEAU , Associated Press
Last update: April 2, 2008 - 2:22 PM
NEW ORLEANS - The eldest brother and political strategist of indicted U.S. Rep. William Jefferson has been charged with giving payoffs to a school-board president — a bribery case apparently unrelated to the one against the congressman.
In a federal indictment handed up Wednesday, Mose Jefferson is accused of giving $140,000 to help secure about $14 million in contracts to bring a computer-based teaching system to Orleans Parish schools. He is charged with bribery, money laundering and obstruction of justice.
The indictment opens a new chapter in the precipitous fall of the Jefferson Democratic machine, a former juggernaut in New Orleans' ward-based politics. William Jefferson is accused of using his congressional office to leverage bribes and lucrative business deals from companies seeking to do business in Africa.
U.S. Attorney Jim Letten said the indictment of Mose Jefferson strikes "at the heart of the corruption which has plagued and sometimes severely impaired our democratic and educational institutions."
[...] The alleged recipient of Mose Jefferson's bribes is Ellenese Brooks-Simms, former president of the Orleans Parish school board. Last June she admitted taking about $140,000 in bribes from a then-unidentified businessman and became one of 33 people convicted in a sprawling investigation into school-system corruption and misspending.
Letten said Wednesday that Mose Jefferson gave Brooks-Simms the money to get her help in winning school board approval of contracts for "I CAN Learn," a computer-based teaching system owned by JRL Enterprises Inc. of Jackson, Miss. In all, Mose Jefferson helped JRL secure about $14 million in contracts, Letten said.
Letten said Mose Jefferson's case is unrelated to the one against William Jefferson, who faces trial in Alexandria, Va., on 16 counts of racketeering, bribery, money laundering and obstruction of justice. There are some ties, however.
Mose Jefferson ran B.E.P. Consulting Services, which JRL Enterprises paid $913,000 in consulting fees to.
B.E.P. also was the firm William Jefferson allegedly steered bribes to for his help in setting up African deals.
William Jefferson was also a major supporter of JRL Enterprises' products in Congress, reportedly working to get at least $45 million in congressional earmarks for the company, according to The Times-Picayune of New Orleans. [...]
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