Covington Resident Pleads Guilty to Federal Misprision Charge

BRENDA JEFFERSON, age 52, a/k/a Brenda Foster, a resident of Covington, Louisiana, pled guilty today before U.S. District Judge Eldon E. Fallon pled guilty a one count Bill of Information charging her with misprision of felony for her concealment and failure to report the conspiracy of her sister Betty Jefferson, brother Mose Jefferson and niece Angela Coleman to defraud federal and state agencies out of grant funds, announced U. S. Attorney Jim Letten.

According to the factual basis, the defendant performed clerical duties as instructed by Betty Jefferson, Mose Jefferson and Angela Coleman at various non-profit corporations which they controlled from approximately 1993 to shortly after Hurricane Katrina. While performing these duties, the defendant had knowledge of a conspiracy between Betty Jefferson, Angela Coleman and Mose Jefferson to obtain grant funds through fraudulent means, did not report it to the appropriate authorities and by her actions committed overt acts to conceal the fraud. Additionally, from approximately 1998 to present, the defendant admitted to having received a total of approximately $90,000 in payments from these non-profits.

JEFFERSON faces a maximum statutory penalty of three (3) years imprisonment, a fine of $250,000, a one year period of supervised release, and a mandatory special assessment of one hundred dollars.

This case was investigated by Special Agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation along with agents from the U.S. Department of Education, Office of Inspector General and Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigative Division. This case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Dorothy Manning Taylor and Daniel P. Friel.

(Download Factual Basis (PDF)