Lawmaker pleads not guilty to bribery charges

By James Vicini

ALEXANDRIA, Virginia (Reuters) - U.S. Democratic Rep. William Jefferson, accused of hiding $90,000 in bribe money in his freezer, pleaded not guilty on Friday to making and taking payoffs for helping to arrange business deals in Africa.

In court, a lawyer for the Louisiana lawmaker entered a not guilty plea to all 16 counts of racketeering, soliciting bribes, fraud, money laundering, obstruction of justice, conspiracy and violating the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act.

"I am absolutely innocent of the charges that have been leveled against me," Jefferson told reporters outside the courthouse. "I'm going to fight my heart out to clear my name."

Jefferson acknowledged he had made unspecified mistakes in judgment that he now deeply regrets, but added, "But did I sell my office or trade official acts for money? Absolutely not."

Jefferson denied the charges in the indictment which accused him of soliciting millions of dollars in bribes from nearly a dozen companies.

The business ventures included telecommunications deals in Nigeria and Ghana, oil concessions in Equatorial Guinea, satellite transmission contracts in Botswana, Equatorial Guinea and the Republic of Congo, and a Nigerian sugar plant.

He also denied bribing a foreign official. "The $90,000 was the FBI's money. The FBI gave it to me as part of its plan that I would give it to the Nigerian vice president but I did not do that," he said of the money found in his freezer.

U.S. District Judge T.S. Ellis set a trial date of January 16, 2008, for Jefferson, a member of Congress since 1991 whose district includes New Orleans.

Jefferson was ordered to surrender his passport and post a $100,000 bond. He was allowed unrestricted travel between the Washington area and Louisiana, but must get the judge's approval for other trips.

Jefferson, who has a Harvard University law degree, was accompanied by defense lawyer Robert Trout, who entered the not guilty plea and asked for a jury trial.

The charges were returned by a federal grand jury on Monday and were a setback for Democrats who won control of the U.S. Congress after making political corruption an issue in last year's election.

The previous Congress had been rocked by scandals, most of them involving Republicans and the now-convicted lobbyist Jack Abramoff.

After his indictment, Jefferson stepped down from the House Small Business Committee. He won re-election to a ninth term in Congress in November, when voters shrugged off the federal investigation.

(Additional reporting by Deborah Charles)