Poverty Marked `Dollar Bill'
NEW ORLEANS — Rep. William J. Jefferson was once famous in Louisiana circles as the sharecropper's son who made his way to Harvard, steered by parents who preached the value of education.
Today, Jefferson is infamous nationally as the Louisiana Democrat who stashed $90,000 of alleged bribe money in his kitchen freezer.
Those who have watched his career's spectacular rise and potential fall believe the terrible poverty he escaped was ultimately his undoing. He rose to become his state's first African American congressman since Reconstruction, but people who know him say he still had a thirst for wealth.
"His perceived flaw among his peers has always been that, shaped by his humble beginnings, Bill loved money and desperately wanted to be a rich man," said Allan Katz, a New Orleans-based political consultant who has known Jefferson for more than 30 years. "It was the Deep South kind of hardship that shaped African American backgrounds."
One of 10 children, Jefferson, now 59, grew up in one of the poorest parts of Louisiana. He was good with a hunting rifle and told a story that showcased his dead aim: If his father needed three rabbits, he would give his son three bullets. But according to Katz, the family told the story another way.
"They had a gun and could only afford one bullet at a time
The lessons of poverty were apparently lasting. An accomplished attorney and aspiring politician, Jefferson became known early on for a pursuit of money that earned him the nickname "Dollar Bill."
As local legend goes, the name came from Jefferson's mentor -- legendary New Orleans Mayor Ernest N. "Dutch" Morial. Morial had asked his protege for some legal work and was given it -- along with a staggering bill. Outraged, Morial coined the moniker.
It followed Jefferson harmlessly enough until last month, when the FBI reported capturing the eight-term congressman on videotape accepting a leather briefcase with $100,000 in alleged bribe money from an undercover informant in front of a northern Virginia hotel. Of those marked bills, $90,000 wound up in Jefferson's freezer, the FBI said after a search of Jefferson's Washington home.
No charges have been filed against the congressman, and Jefferson has been forceful in his denial of wrongdoing. "There are two sides to every story," he recently said, adding that he could not answer specific questions on the advice of his lawyers.
