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Jefferson Says He Will Not Resign or Plead Guilty. Like DeLay, He Doesn't Want You To Be Distracted By His Friends Behind Bars. Here's the backstory on this:

Businessman Pleads Guilty To Bribing a Representative

By PHILIP SHENON (NYT) 720 words Published: May 4, 2006 WASHINGTON, May 3 - A Kentucky technology executive pleaded guilty Wednesday to charges of bribing a member of Congress in an investigation that has centered on Representative William J. Jefferson, a Louisiana Democrat.

While court papers have not referred to Representative Jefferson by name, they leave no doubt that the congressman and his family are the focus of the Justice Department's investigation. Mr. Jefferson's homes in New Orleans and Washington were searched last year by federal agents.

The Kentucky businessman, Vernon L. Jackson, chairman of iGate Inc., based in Louisville, offered his plea in Federal District Court in Alexandria, Va., admitting guilt to one count of bribing a public official and one count of conspiracy to commit bribery.

Mr. Jackson acknowledged that he had paid $367,500 over four years to a company controlled by the family of a member of Congress described in court papers only as ''Representative A, a member of the House of Representatives.'' In exchange, the court papers say, the lawmaker helped promote iGate's technology products to federal agencies, as well as to African governments and companies.

In January, a former aide to Mr. Jefferson pleaded guilty to charges of aiding and abetting the bribing of Representative A, a clear reference to Mr. Jefferson because of other details revealed in the court papers.

The former aide, Brett M. Pfeffer, said Representative A sought bribes, jobs for his children and other favors in exchange for official acts on behalf of a company seeking to set up an Internet and cable-television service in Nigeria.

In a statement released by his House office, Mr. Jefferson said he was ''surprised and disappointed to learn of Vernon Jackson's guilty plea and his characterization of our relationship.'' He added, ''I have never over all the years of my public service accepted payment from anyone for the performance of any act or duty for which I have been elected.''

The investigation of Mr. Jefferson, who is in his eighth term, has given Republican leaders an opportunity to try to divert public attention from recent federal corruption investigations involving House and Senate Republicans and their ties to corporate lobbyists.

Jack Abramoff, a once-powerful lobbyist and Republican political fund-raiser, pleaded guilty in January to trying to corrupt public officials and has agreed to cooperate in investigations of several Congressional Republicans. In a separate inquiry, Representative Randy Cunningham, a California Republican known as Duke, pleaded guilty in November to taking $2.4 million in homes, yachts and other bribes, and resigned his seat.

Mr. Jackson, the Kentucky businessman, faces up to 20 years in prison as a result of his guilty plea Wednesday.

In court papers outlining his agreement with prosecutors, he acknowledged that he bribed Representative A for help to promote high-speed and broadband Internet technology developed by iGate. In exchange for the payments, the plea agreement says, Representative A helped iGate to obtain federal certification for the company, allowing its technology to be sold to the Defense Department and other agencies.

The Justice Department said the bribes began in 2001 and were made to a company ''ostensibly maintained in the names of Representative A's spouse and children'' and were fraudulently described as consulting fees. ''In fact,'' the plea agreement said, ''those payments were designed to be in return for Representative A performing official acts in promoting iGate products and business.''

In 2003, it said, Representative A traveled to Nigeria on official business and met with officials of a Nigerian television company to promote iGate's technology, an effort that resulted in an agreement by the Nigerian company to invest $45 million in a joint venture with iGate. That same year, the agreement said, the lawmaker visited the offices of the Export-Import Bank in Washington to introduce Mr. Jackson to the bank's officials ''for the purpose of promoting the Nigerian deal.''

The court papers said iGate helped to sponsor and pay for a trip to Nigeria by Representative A, where he met with the country's president, vice president and chief commerce minister and ''promoted iGate'' and its communications technology.

As part of the investigation, agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation raided Mr. Jefferson's homes in Washington and Louisiana last August. They also raided the Maryland home of Nigeria's vice president, Atiku Abubakar, citing warrants for documents linking him and his wife to Mr. Jefferson and the business deals.

Photos: A bribery investigation focused on Representative William J. Jefferson, top, and a Kentucky businessman, Vernon L. Jackson. (Photo by Caleb Jones/Associated Press); (Photo by Bas Czerwinski/Associated Press)