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By Vladimir Posted in Louisiana | New Orleans | State Politics | William Jefferson — Comments (0) / Email this page » / Leave a comment »

Because I ... just ... can't ... help ... myself.

Mose Jefferson pleads innocent

Mose is the older brother of U.S. Rep. William Jefferson (D-LA), the Democratic superdelegate who is currently awaiting trial on 16 counts of bribery &etc. Mose's girlfriend is ex-N.O. city councilwoman Renee Gill-Pratt, also a member of the extended Jefferson clan and Democratic superdelegate.

As we have found on many previous occasions, if there is a Public Teat on which to be sucked, there you will find a Jefferson.

Among the article's juicy tidbits:

Federal prosecutors sought to portray Jefferson, the older brother of indicted U.S. Rep. William Jefferson and the chief strategist of his political organization, as a career criminal of sorts, and they asked for a high bond.

Mose Jefferson's rap sheet, the government said, is a long one, including charges of armed robbery, bail jumping, unlawful use of a weapon, carnal knowledge of a juvenile and "deceptive practices" -- apparently a violation of a consumer law.

U.S. Magistrate Judge Alma Chasez disagreed, noting that the most recent charge against Jefferson dated to 1982, when Jefferson was 39 years old. He is now 65. His last conviction was the bail-jumping charge.

That conviction, for which Jefferson served nine months in prison, dates to 1967, Illinois records show. "Yes, he's got a criminal background, but there's nothing ongoing," Chasez said.

In the end, Chasez ordered Jefferson to post a $200,000 property bond, which his attorney, Ike Spears, said Jefferson would secure with properties at 8030 Morrison Road and 2712-16 Loyola Ave.

Oh, it turns out that the Loyola Ave. property has an intersting history that involves the Good Congressman and Superdelegate:

Interestingly, the Loyola Avenue property Jefferson is using to secure his bond, a dilapidated Central City multiplex, has been at the center of controversies involving the Jefferson family.

It was purchased by William Jefferson in 1984. Shortly after his sister, Betty Jefferson, was elected 4th District assessor in 1998, she slashed its taxable value to $45,000, less than one-seventh the amount her brother paid for it.

When those facts became public in 2004, William Jefferson denied still owning the building, saying he transferred it years earlier to a friend, Bobby Higginbotham.

The congressman's claims aside, the 2004 tax roll listed William Jefferson as the owner, and the water bill was in Betty Jefferson's name. Mose Jefferson, meanwhile, had filled out a form that requested the complex be exempt from sanitation fees associated with city trash collection.

William Jefferson later filed an "act of correction" that said Higginbotham has been the complex's owner since 1993.

Last year, a company called Mose Jefferson Manor, not registered with the Louisiana secretary of state, filed a Katrina claim on behalf of the property.

And if I'm not mistaken, that same Loyola Ave. property has at times been rented to the state of Louisiana for a greater annual rent than its assessed value.