At last! Good riddance!

It seems that disgraced former Representative William J. Jefferson is finally about to get his come-uppance.  The Washington Times reports:

A former Louisiana congressman who infamously was caught with $90,000 in cash hidden in his freezer will have to begin serving a 13-year bribery sentence within the next two weeks, a judge ruled Friday.

Democrat William Jefferson, who represented parts of New Orleans for nearly 20 years, was convicted and sentenced back in 2009 for taking roughly $500,000 in bribes and seeking millions more in exchange for using his influence to broker business deals in Africa.

But he has been free on bond, living in New Orleans while appealing his conviction.

Last month, though, a federal appeals court in Richmond upheld all but one of the 11 counts on which he was convicted, including bribery, money laundering and racketeering. At a status hearing Friday in U.S. District Court in Alexandria, Judge T.S. Ellis III ordered Jefferson, 65, to turn himself in to U.S. Marshals by May 4 to serve the sentence.

. . .

The key argument on appeal was that Jefferson’s actions were not technically bribery under federal law because he did not take or solicit money in exchange for an “official act,” like voting on legislation. But the appeals court ruled unanimously that it would be “absurd” to conclude that Jefferson’s actions would not be considered bribery.

There's more at the link.

It's long gone time that Mr. Jefferson was put out of our misery.  I was active in relief efforts after Hurricane Katrina in 2005, and I've never forgotten his greedy, self-centered conduct at the time, which took valuable resources away from rescue and recovery efforts.  I trust he'll remain 'out of sight, out of mind' for as long as possible.  The air will be cleaner for his absence from society.

Peter