Mose Jefferson, the eldest brother and chief political strategist of Louisiana Congressman William Jefferson, has been indicted by a federal grand jury on charges that he bribed the former president of the Orleans Parish School Board to ensure her support for an algebra curriculum he was selling. Ellenese Brooks-Simms, the former board president, has pleaded guilty to accepting bribes; she is scheduled to be sentenced later this month. Jefferson's indictment brings to 37 the number of people charged with crimes related to defrauding the Orleans Parish School Board since federal investigator began a five-year probe.
Click here to read The New Orleans Times-Picayune article.
FROM JUNE 2007: In a clear sign that federal prosecutors are digging deeper into a bribery scandal at the Orleans Parish (La.) School Board, Mose Jefferson -- the eldest brother of indicted U.S. Rep. William Jefferson and the congressman's chief political strategist -- was summoned, along with two School Board members, to a grand jury Wednesday.
Click here to read The New Orleans Times-Picayune article.
EARLIER: Former Orleans Parish (La.) School Board President Ellenese Brooks-Simms secretly recorded several conversations she had recently with Mose Jefferson--the man who investigators suspect paid her bribes--as part of her agreement to cooperate with federal prosecutors. Brooks-Simms has pleaded guilty to federal fraud and kickback charges in connection with a scheme to win board support for the purchase of the "I CAN Learn" computer-based algebra tutorial.
Click here to read The New Orleans Times-Picayune article.
Former Orleans Parish (La.) School Board president Ellenese Brooks-Simms is expected to plead guilty in federal court to charges that she accepted more than $100,000 in bribes from Mose Jefferson--brother of indicted U.S. Rep. William Jefferson--in exchange for supporting a multimillion-dollar math curriculum contract.
Click here to read The New Orleans Times-Picayune article.
