US lawmaker pleads not guilty to bribery

ALEXANDRIA, Va., June 8 (Reuters) US Democratic Rep William Jefferson, accused of hiding 90,000 dollars in bribe money in his freezer, pleaded not guilty today to making and taking payoffs for helping to arrange business deals in Africa.

In court, a lawyer for the Louisiana lawmaker entered a not guilty plea to all 16 counts of racketeering, soliciting bribes, fraud, money laundering, obstruction of justice, conspiracy and violating the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act.

US District Judge TS Ellis set a trial date of January 16, 2008, for Jefferson, a member of Congress since 1991 whose district includes New Orleans.

The judge ordered Jefferson to surrender his passport and post a 100,000 dollars bond. Ellis said he would allow Jefferson unrestricted travel between the Washington area and Louisiana, but he must get the judge's approval for other trips.

Jefferson was accused of soliciting millions of dollars in bribes from nearly a dozen companies.

The business ventures included telecommunications deals in Nigeria and Ghana, oil concessions in Equatorial Guinea, satellite transmission contracts in Botswana, Equatorial Guinea and the Republic of Congo, and a Nigerian sugar plant.

According to the indictment, an FBI witness gave Jefferson 100,000 dollars in cash intended as a bribe for an unnamed Nigerian official in 2005.

It said Jefferson put in his home freezer 90,000 dollars of the cash, which was separated into amounts of 10,000, dollars wrapped in aluminum foil and concealed inside various frozen food containers.

The hearing lasted about 20 minutes. Jefferson, who has a Harvard University law degree, was accompanied by his defense lawyer, Robert Trout. Trout entered the not guilty plea and asked for a jury trial.

The charges were returned by a federal grand jury on Monday and were a setback for Democrats, who won control of Congress after making political corruption an issue in last year's election.

The previous Congress had been rocked by scandals, most of them involving Republicans and the now-convicted lobbyist Jack Abramoff.

After his indictment, Jefferson stepped down from the House Small Business Committee. He won re-election to a ninth term in Congress in November, when voters shrugged off the federal bribery investigation.

Jefferson briefly addressed the court, waiving his right to a speedy trial, and answered questions posed by the judge about his background and whether he understood his rights.

Jefferson became the first sitting congressman charged under the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, which prohibits US citizens from bribing foreign officials.

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