Deliberations resume in corruption case

ALEXANDRIA, Va., Aug. 3 (UPI) -- A third day of jury deliberations in the public corruption case against former U.S. Rep. William Jefferson, D-La., began Monday in Alexandria, Va.

The (New Orleans) Times-Picayune said Monday's deliberations came four years after Jefferson's homes in Washington and New Orleans were raided by FBI agents looking into corruption allegations against the then-U.S. representative.

The FBI raids allegedly found $90,000 in cash that was being stored in a freezer on one of the representative's properties.

Jefferson, 62, stands accused of accepting bribes to help telecommunications companies do business in Africa.

FBI surveillance allegedly shows the congressman accepting a briefcase filled with $100,000 in cash from Virginia businesswoman Lori Mody in 2005.

Federal prosecutors have not commented on why Mody did not testify during Jefferson's trial, the Times-Picayune said.

Two individuals related to the corruption case, iGate Inc. Chief Executive Officer Vernon Jackson and former Jefferson aide Brett Pfeffer, testified after each pleading guilty to bribery-related charges.