Jury: Jefferson must forfeit $450,000

ALEXANDRIA, Va., Aug. 6 (UPI) -- The jury that convicted former Rep. William Jefferson, D-La., of bribery ruled Thursday he must forfeit $450,000 in assets.

Jurors in federal court in Alexandria, Va., also said Jefferson should forfeit millions of shares of stock in a Nigerian telecommunications company, The New Orleans Times-Picayune reported. The company is no longer in business and the stock is believed to have no value.

Jefferson, 62, is scheduled to be sentenced in October after being found guilty Wednesday of 11 of 16 counts of bribery and other charges. Prosecutors say he could get as much as 20 years in federal prison.

During Thursday's hearing on forfeiture, Robert Trout, the head of the defense team, argued many of the assets the prosecution was seeking were the results of legitimate business deals and of Jefferson's "passion for Africa."

"This man's passion was for sale," Assistant U.S. Attorey Mark Lytle responded. "He only had passion for Africa when people paid him to have passion for Africa."