Multiple members of the family of U.S. Representative William Jefferson have been named in a federal indictment for allegedly skimming over $600,000 intended for three charities supposedly created to aid New Orleans Central City youths. Jefferson’s older sister, New Orleans 4th District Assessor Betty Jefferson, brother Mose Jefferson and Angela Coleman, Betty Jefferson’s daughter, were all charged with conspiracy to commit mail fraud, program fraud, money laundering and aggravated identity theft.
According to the Times Picayune, the trio founded non-profits, requested federal funding, then pocked the money. The requests for the ear-marked funds came through then-state Rep. Renee Gill Pratt, a protege of the congressman, and her successor, Jalila Jefferson-Bullock, the congressman’s daughter. Other family members, listed in the indictment as “Family Member 1” through “Family Member 9,” are unnamed.
Congressman Jefferson is currently awaiting trial on 16 counts of public corruption following the discovery of $90,000 in alleged payoffs, in his freezer. Mose Jefferson is also facing trial on charges that he bribed the former president of the Orleans Parish School Board. To read the entire story in the TP, click here .