ALEXANDRIA, Va. — A Kentucky businessman testified Wednesday he paid hundreds of thousands of dollars in "consulting fees” to the wife of a former Louisiana congressman that were thinly veiled bribes.
Vernon Jackson, who ran a Louisville telecommunications firm, was the first witness to testify in the bribery trial of William Jefferson, a Democrat.
Jackson is also one of the trial’s most important witnesses. Out of numerous bribery schemes that prosecutors allege Jefferson orchestrated, the one involving Jackson involved the largest payments.
Jefferson has pleaded not guilty to soliciting bribes, racketeering, money laundering and other crimes. Defense lawyer Robert Trout told the jury that some of Jefferson’s deals might be considered unethical, but are not illegal under federal laws.
Jackson pleaded guilty in 2006 to paying more than $400,000 in bribes to Jefferson and was sentenced to more than seven years in prison.
by the associated press
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