Brenda Jefferson Foster (1955 – May 17, 2010) was a witness for the prosecution in the 2008-2009 trials of her older siblings

Betty Jefferson Betty Jefferson(born 1938) is the elected assessor of New Orleans' 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 ...

and

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 counts ...

, Betty Jefferson's daughter Angela Coleman, and Mose Jefferson's companion former

City Council A municipal council is the legislative body of a municipality or local government area. Depending on the location and classification of the municipality it may be known as a city council, town council, town board, community council, rural counc ...

woman

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 ...

. Brenda Jefferson Foster had originally been charged with some of the same offenses but accepted a

plea bargain A plea bargain (also plea agreement or plea deal) is an agreement in criminal law proceedings, whereby the prosecutor provides a concession to the defendant in exchange for a plea of guilt or '' nolo contendere.'' This may mean that the defendan ...

. In exchange for pleading guilty to a minor charge, she averted being prosecuted for the major offenses but agreed to serve as a witness for the office of

U.S. Attorney United States attorneys are officials of the U.S. Department of Justice who serve as the chief federal law enforcement officers in each of the 94 U.S. federal judicial districts. Each U.S. attorney serves as the United States' chief federal c ...

Jim Letten James B. Letten (born September 12, 1953) is an American attorney. A career prosecutor, Letten served as U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Louisiana for more than eleven years. By the time Letten resigned as U.S. Attorney in December 20 ...

. All the remaining defendants pleaded not guilty in U.S. Federal District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana on 2009 June 5. At the 2009 June 5 arraignment U.S. Magistrate Joseph Wilkinson Jr. instructed the four defendants to refrain from contact with Brenda Jefferson Foster. In a 2009 May 28 editorial the New Orleans ''Times-Picayune'' acknowledged Brenda Jefferson Foster's admission of her part in the alleged fraudulent activities. 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 Renée 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."Trial delayed for Gill Pratt, Jefferson kin"
in ''Times-Picayune'', 2009 July 29, Saint Tammany Edition, p. B3. The ''bribery'' trial of Mose Jefferson was still set to begin on 2009 August 10.

Notes

1955 births Living people {{NewOrleans-stub