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.[1] Before her political career in New Orleans she lived for a number of years in
Chicago. She is an older sister of convicted felon former
U.S. RepresentativeWilliam J. Jefferson.
At a hearing before U. S. District Judge
Ivan L. R. Lemelle 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.[3] On 2009 July 28, Lemelle delayed the start of the racketeering trial to 2010 January 25.[4]
If proved, the charges—raised under provisions of the
Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (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.[5]
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.[6]
^"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.