Betty Jefferson(born 1938) is the elected
assessor of
' Fourth Municipal District; she was first elected on 1998 February 7 and was reelected in 2002 and 2006. Before her political career in New Orleans she lived for a number of years in
Chicago
(''City in a Garden''); I Will
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, coordinates =
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. She is an older sister of convicted felon former
U.S. Representative
The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they c ...
William J. Jefferson
William Jennings Jefferson (born March 14, 1947) is an American former politician from Louisiana whose career ended after his corruption scandal and conviction. He served as a member of the U.S. House of Representatives for nine terms from 1991 ...
.
In 2009 Betty Jefferson was a defendant in
racketeering
Racketeering is a type of organized crime in which the perpetrators set up a coercive, fraudulent, extortionary, or otherwise illegal coordinated scheme or operation (a "racket") to repeatedly or consistently collect a profit.
Originally and of ...
charges also involving her brother
Mose Jefferson Mose Oliver Jefferson (August 28, 1942 – May 12, 2011) was a member of the New Orleans family that includes his younger brother, former U.S. Representative William J. Jefferson. On 21 August 2009, Mose Jefferson was convicted on four felony count ...
, her daughter
Angela Coleman, and
Renée Gill Pratt
Renée Gill Pratt (born 1954) is an American politician from New Orleans, Louisiana. She was also Director of the Center for Student Retention and Success in Southern University at New Orleans. On July 25, 2011, she was found guilty of racketeering ...
. On 2009 June 5 all the defendants pleaded not guilty.
At a hearing before U. S. District Judge
Ivan L. R. Lemelle
Ivan L. R. Lemelle (born 1950) is a Senior Status, Senior United States federal judge, United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana.
Early life and education
Born in Opelousas, Louisiana, ...
on 2009 June 17, lawyers for Betty Jefferson and Angela Coleman requested a delay from the 2009 August 3 start date for the racketeering trial; at the same hearing, however, lawyers for Gill Pratt and Mose Jefferson requested that the racketeering trial begin as scheduled on August 3. On 2009 July 28, Lemelle delayed the start of the racketeering trial to 2010 January 25.
If proved, the charges—raised under provisions of the
Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations
The Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act is a United States federal law that provides for extended criminal penalties and a civil cause of action for acts performed as part of an ongoing criminal organization.
RICO was en ...
(RICO) Act—can result in up to 20 years' imprisonment, $250,000 in fines, and stiff penalties of forfeiture. Some of the charges involved fraudulent use of e-mail.
In an article starting on the front page and extending for almost the entirety of another page, Laura Maggi analyzed Betty Jefferson's imputed connection with William J. Jefferson's conviction.
She died in 2013
Notes
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jefferson, Betty
1938 births
Living people
Louisiana Democrats
Politicians from Chicago
Politicians from New Orleans
Women in Louisiana politics
21st-century American women