• By GERARD SHIELDS
• Advocate Washington bureau
• Published: Jul 1, 2009 - Page: 9A

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ALEXANDRIA, Va. — An ex-aide to former U.S. Rep. William Jefferson testified Tuesday that Jefferson asked him for 5 to 7 percent of a Nigerian telecommunications company that stood to gain “hundreds of millions.”

Brett Pfeffer told the jury in Jefferson’s bribery trial that he believed his former boss wanted the financial stake in return for his congressional influence in pushing the Nigerian project. Pfeffer is serving an 8-year sentence after pleading guilty in the case to conspiring to commit a bribe and aiding and abetting in committing a bribe.

Pfeffer testified that he knew that he was committing a crime in agreeing to Jefferson’s demands but said the potential wealth made him commit to the deal.

“I knew if the congressman didn’t help us on this deal there was no way the deal was going to be put together,” Pfeffer said. “I was going to be a hero, and I was going to be a wealthy hero.”

Jefferson has pleaded innocent to 16 public corruption charges including bribery, conspiracy, racketeering and money laundering. Government prosecutors allege that he steered money to his family and himself in return for using his congressional influence to push business projects in Africa.

Jefferson’s defense is that he acted as a private businessman in the arrangements and never committed official acts for the companies, such as appropriating government money, voting or introducing legislation.

Pfeffer worked for the woman who eventually went to the FBI to complain about the Jefferson deal. Virginia businesswoman Lori Mody agreed to back the Nigerian business plan by investing $3.5 million, which she eventually lost.

Pfeffer served as president of Mody’s company, W-2, earning $700,000 a year and 50 percent of all the company profits. Pfeffer described an opulent lifestyle that included a huge house and several sports cars.

“I thought if I looked successful I would be successful,” Pfeffer said dressed in a blue-green prison jumpsuit.

Pfeffer was in charge of looking for investments for Mody, who was going to use any profits to fund her charitable foundation. Jefferson told Pfeffer about a Kentucky communications company called iGate that was seeking an investor to provide audio, video and data services in Nigeria.

Though Pfeffer said he saw a demonstration of the iGate technology and was impressed, his sole reason for recommending the investment was Jefferson’s word.

“I trusted the congressman; I had a lot of respect for him,” said Pfeffer, who worked as a legislative aide for Jefferson for three years beginning in 1995. “I didn’t think he would put me in a deal that wasn’t right.”

Jefferson required that his daughter, Jamila, handle the company’s legal work and that the company hire his brother, Archie, for $25,000 a month, Pfeffer said. Jefferson eventually requested that his stake in the company rise to 25 percent to accommodate other players in the deal, Pfeffer said.