Judge orders release of congressman sentenced for bribery

[mahatmakanejeeves]

Did the Supreme Court really think this through before it undermined just abt every major political corruption case?

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Judge orders release of congressman sentenced for bribery

McLEAN, Va. (AP) — A former Louisiana congressman sentenced to 13 years in prison on bribery charges who was famously caught hiding $90,000 cash in his freezer has been ordered to be immediately released from jail to receive a new sentencing hearing. ... The ruling ordering the release of ex-Rep. William Jefferson follows a Supreme Court decision last year making it more difficult to convict public officials on bribery-related offenses.

Jefferson, 70, a Democrat who represented parts of New Orleans, has been serving his sentence since 2012. He was convicted of accepting more than $400,000 in bribes and seeking millions more in exchange for brokering business deals in Africa. The 2005 raid of his Washington home that turned up cash stuffed in frozen food boxes made him fodder for late-night comedians. ... In a ruling made public Thursday, U.S. Senior Judge T.S. Ellis III in Alexandria said a new sentencing hearing is necessary because the Supreme Court has subsequently changed what constitutes “an official act” for which a public official can be convicted of bribery. .... In his 41-page ruling, Ellis wrote, “No one reading this opinion should conclude that Jefferson was innocent of crime; he was not innocent of crime.” Even under the stricter bribery rules spelled out by the Supreme Court last year when it tossed out corruption convictions against former Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell, Ellis said Jefferson’s behavior went well beyond anything that occurred in the McDonnell case.
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The definition of an official act was a key element in the Jefferson case ever since charges were first filed. Defense lawyers argued Jefferson was acting as a private business consultant when he accepted payments from a Kentucky businessman, Vernon Jackson, who sought Jefferson’s help in developing telecommunications deals in Africa and with the U.S. military. ... Prosecutors, though, said Jefferson was cashing in on the influence he wielded as a member of Congress and was taking bribes for actions that are routine for a member of Congress who is expected to provide service to his constituents.

Similar issues swirled around the trial of McDonnell, a Republican, who accepted gifts and loans from a businessman who sought McDonnell’s help in getting a tobacco-based dietary supplement to be studied by state universities. In the McDonnell case, the Supreme Court ruled unanimously that jury instructions must set limits on what constitutes an official act.

ETA, 3:34 p.m., Saturday: TexasTowelie posted this first:

Judge orders release of congressman sentenced for bribery

[Not Ruth]

1. Great timing for Menendez

Friends cannot bribe friends