William Jefferson, the former U.S. congressman from Louisiana who was convicted of corruption after federal agents found $90,000 in his freezer, has filed for bankruptcy. A chapter 7 liquidation petition filed last week by Jefferson and his wife, Andrea, reveals that the couple owes between $1 million and $10 million to about 50 creditors. The petition also lists their estimated assets as being worth between $10 and $50 million. When someone files for chapter 7 bankruptcy liquidation, their assets are sold and the cash goes to creditors. Some property may be exempt from sale. In early August, Jefferson was convicted of peddling his congressional influence to land his wife and children lucrative contracts in Africa. In addition to guilty verdicts for bribery, racketeering, and money laundering, the jury ruled that Jefferson, who was a member of the Congressional Black Caucus and several key congressional committees, must relinquish about $470,000 in bribery receipts. When he was elected nearly two decades ago, Jefferson became the first Black congressman from Louisiana since Reconstruction. In 2005, the FBI raided his Capitol Hill home and found the $90,000 in bribe money wrapped in foil and stashed in frozen-food boxes. Prosecutors told jurors that the money was to secure the vice president of Nigeria’s help with a telecommunications venture.

Rep. William Jefferson, convicted of selling his influence for hundreds of thousands in “cold cash,” wants a new trial. Last week a New Orleans jury found the nine-term congressman guilty on 11 of 16 counts of public corruption, acquitting him of five others. On Wednesday, Jefferson’s attorneys filed a motion requesting that Judge T.S. Ellis III grant a new trial. While it is highly unlikely that Ellis will comply, Jefferson’s defenders are hoping that the court will release material concerning Lori Mody, the Virginia businesswoman who wore a government bug to record conversations with Jefferson but never appeared to testify during his seven-week trial, NOLA.com reports. Ellis is scheduled to sentence the 62-year-old Jefferson on Oct. 30. The Web site reports that lead Prosecutor Mark Lytle said sentencing guidelines call for the Louisiana Democrat to spend 20 years in prison. Most observers believe that Jefferson will serve a much lighter sentence. Investigators, who raided Jefferson’s Capitol Hill apartment in 2006, found $90,000 in his freezer.

Just days after former U.S. Rep. William Jefferson was convicted in a lengthy trial of selling his influence, his brother, Mose Jefferson, must convince a Louisiana jury that he did not accept bribes as a former Orleans Parish School Board president. His attorneys, who head to court today, are asking U.S. District Judge Mary Ann Vial Lemmon to either delay the trial or move it from New Orleans because of the publicity generated in the conviction of William Jefferson. In that case, the jury handed down 11 convictions against the ex-congressman, who was discovered with $90,000 dollars in his apartment freezer. Lemmon previously denied the request to move the trial, saying that potential bias would come out during the jury questioning period. Earlier, nearly a third of the jury pool were dismissed after bias was revealed in their written questionnaires, defense attorney Michael Fawer told The Times Picayune.