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Wednesday, May 03, 2006
About That Culture of CorruptionIt's on both sides of the aisle: The head of a technology company at the center of a federal investigation into Rep. William Jefferson, D-New Orleans, is expected to plead guilty today to aiding and abetting the solicitation of bribes and has agreed to cooperate with the investigation, according to court documents and sources familiar with the case.
Vernon Jackson, CEO of iGate Inc. in Kentucky, has signed a 13-page statement in which he says Jefferson helped get his telecommunications firm listed with the General Services Administration so it could get government contracts, one of the sources said.
The statement also says Jefferson, an eight-term congressman and a senior Democrat on the House Ways and Means Committee, later demanded payments to a company that included the congressman's wife and children in return for his help in gaining lucrative Internet and cable TV contracts in Africa.
The source said the government has obtained a copy of payment transactions from Jackson to the business it says is directly tied to Jefferson's family.
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