Rep. Implicated In Bribery Probe

Former Aide To Rep. William Jefferson, D-La., Pleads Guilty In Probe

(AP) 
Pfeffer's attorney, Paul Knight, declined to comment.

Court records give no indication how much money Jefferson stood to receive. That amount will be determined later as part of Pfeffer's sentencing.

Prosecutors have been investigating Jefferson in connection with a telecommunications deal involving a Kentucky-based company that specialized in providing high-speed Internet access over Nigeria's copper telephone wires.

The FBI raided Jefferson's home in August and, according to published reports, carted off cash from a freezer.

The FBI also raided the Maryland home of Nigerian Vice President Atiku Abubakar, seeking documents connecting him and his wife to the congressman and the telecommunications deal.

Jefferson was elected to the House in 1990, becoming the first black congressman from Louisiana since Reconstruction. He represents most of New Orleans, including sections of the city that were hardest hit by Hurricane Katrina.

He was criticized after the hurricane for receiving a National Guard escort to check on his flooded home at a time when federal resources were sorely strained.

Jefferson's spokeswoman, Melanie Roussell, declined to comment on the plea bargain except to confirm that Pfeffer worked for Jefferson in the mid-1990s. Jefferson's lawyer, Mike Fawer, said he would not comment until he had spoken to Jefferson, who was traveling in Europe.