Raymond Francis Lederer (May 19, 1938 – December 1, 2008) was a Democratic member of the

United States House of Representatives 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 house, lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the United States Senate, Senate being ...

, representing

Pennsylvania's 3rd congressional district Pennsylvania's third congressional district includes several areas of the city of Philadelphia, including West Philadelphia, most of Center City, Philadelphia, Center City, and parts of North Philadelphia. It has been represented by Democratic Pa ...

from 1977 to 1981. He was convicted of taking bribes in the 1980

Abscam Abscam (sometimes written ABSCAM) was an FBI sting operation in the late 1970s and early 1980s that led to the convictions of seven members of the United States Congress, among others, for bribery and corruption. The two-year investigation init ...

scandal.

Early life

Lederer was born in

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sin ...

on May 19, 1938, where he attended the local Catholic schools, graduating from Roman Catholic High School for Boys in 1956. He attended Saint Joseph's College of Philadelphia (now

Saint Joseph's University Saint Joseph's University (SJU or St. Joe's) is a private Jesuit university in Philadelphia and Lower Merion, Pennsylvania. The university was founded by the Society of Jesus in 1851 as Saint Joseph's College. Saint Joseph's is the seventh old ...

) from 1960 to 1965, the

Community College of Philadelphia The Community College of Philadelphia (CCP) is a public community college with campuses throughout Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The college was founded in 1965 and is accredited by the Middle States Commission on Higher Education. It offers over 1 ...

from 1967 to 1969 and

Pennsylvania State University The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State or PSU) is a public state-related land-grant research university with campuses and facilities throughout Pennsylvania. Founded in 1855 as the Farmers' High School of Pennsylvania, Penn State bec ...

University Park, Pennsylvania University Park (also referred to as Penn State University Park) is the name given to the Pennsylvania State University's main campus located in both State College and College Township, Pennsylvania, United States. The campus post office was ...

, in 1972. He worked as an assistant engineer for the

Pennsylvania Department of Highways The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT) oversees transportation issues in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. The administrator of PennDOT is the Pennsylvania Secretary of Transportation, currently Yassmin Gramian. Presently, Pe ...

in 1957. He was a

probation officer A probation and parole officer is an official appointed or sworn to investigate, report on, and supervise the conduct of convicted offenders on probation or those released from incarceration to community supervision such as parole. Most probat ...

and later served as director of the Philadelphia Probation Department, during the period from 1967 to 1974. Lederer was a board member of the Pennsylvania Committee on Probation.Raymond Francis Lederer
''

Biographical Directory of the United States Congress The ''Biographical Directory of the United States Congress'' (Bioguide) is a biographical dictionary of all present and former members of the United States Congress and its predecessor, the Continental Congress. Also included are Delegates fro ...

''. Accessed December 7, 2008.

Politics

Lederer was elected to the

Pennsylvania House of Representatives The Pennsylvania House of Representatives is the lower house of the bicameral Pennsylvania General Assembly, the legislature of the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. There are 203 members, elected for two-year terms from single member districts. It ...

, where he served from 1974 to 1977. Lederer represented the same part of Philadelphia that had been served by both his father,

Miles The mile, sometimes the international mile or statute mile to distinguish it from other miles, is a British imperial unit and United States customary unit of distance; both are based on the older English unit of length equal to 5,280 Englis ...

, and older brother,

William William is a male given name of Germanic origin.Hanks, Hardcastle and Hodges, ''Oxford Dictionary of First Names'', Oxford University Press, 2nd edition, , p. 276. It became very popular in the English language after the Norman conquest of Eng ...

. His sister-in-law, Marie, would also go on to serve in the State House.

Congress

Lederer was elected to Congress in 1976 to represent ; Lederer won with 73% of the vote, defeating Republican candidate Terence J. Schade. He took office on January 3, 1977. While serving on the

House Ways and Means Committee The Committee on Ways and Means is the chief tax-writing committee of the United States House of Representatives. The committee has jurisdiction over all taxation, tariffs, and other revenue-raising measures, as well as a number of other program ...

, he was able to direct shipments of fruit from

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the east a ...

to be imported through the

Port of Philadelphia The Port of Philadelphia is located on the Delaware River in Philadelphia in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. Generally the term applies to the publicly owned marine terminals located within Philadelphia city limits along west bank of the river. ...

. Lederer was re-elected in 1978 with almost 72% of the vote over Republican Raymond S. Kauffman.

Abscam

Lederer was videotaped at a motel in New York on September 11, 1979, at a meeting with two undercover agents who presented themselves as representatives of a supposed Arab sheik. Accepting $50,000 in cash, he told the agents "I can give you me" in exchange for the money. After being implicated in the

sting, Lederer was convicted of bribery on January 9, 1981, and sentenced to three years in prison and fined $20,000. Despite his indictment in the scandal, Lederer was re-elected, unlike the other members of the House implicated in the Abscam scandal.Staff
"THE NATION; Exit Mr. Lederer"
''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'', May 3, 1981. Accessed December 6, 2008. In the 1980 race, Lederer won with 54.5% of the vote, defeating Republican William J. Phillips, who had 32.8%, Consumer Party candidate Max Weiner with 9.5% and Independent John Morris with 3.2%. The United States House Committee on Standards of Official Conduct voted to expel him on April 28, 1981. Lederer resigned the following day, citing "personal legal problems" that interfered with his ability to serve his constituents.

Joseph F. Smith Joseph Fielding Smith Sr. (November 13, 1838 – November 19, 1918) was an American religious leader who served as the sixth president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church). He was the nephew of Joseph Smith, the foun ...

ran in the Democratic Party primary in a race to succeed Lederer in a special election. After losing in the primary to David B. Glancey, chairman of the Democratic City Committee, Smith ran in the July 1981 special election as both an Independent and as a Republican (with the approval of the Republican Party) and defeated Glancey, having promised in his campaign to caucus with the Democrats if elected.via ''

United Press International United Press International (UPI) is an American international news agency whose newswires, photo, news film, and audio services provided news material to thousands of newspapers, magazines, radio and television stations for most of the 2 ...

''
"special election"&st=cse "NEW HOUSE MEMBERS SWORN IN "
''

'', July 29, 1981. Accessed December 7, 2008. Lederer served ten months in Allenwood Federal Prison. He later worked as a roofer. Lederer died on December 1, 2008, of

lung cancer Lung cancer, also known as lung carcinoma (since about 98–99% of all lung cancers are carcinomas), is a malignant lung tumor characterized by uncontrolled cell growth in tissues of the lung. Lung carcinomas derive from transformed, malign ...

at age 70 and is interred at the Holy Sepulchre Cemetery in

Cheltenham, Pennsylvania Cheltenham is an unincorporated community in Cheltenham Township, Pennsylvania, United States, with a ZIP code of 19012. It is located directly over the city line (Cheltenham Avenue) of Philadelphia. It also borders Northeast Philadelphia over t ...

.via ''

Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American non-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association. It produces news reports that are distributed to its members, U.S. newsp ...

''
"Raymond Lederer, Abscam Figure, Is Dead at 70 "
''

'', December 3, 2008. Accessed December 6, 2008.

References

External links