By Eileen Fleming
http://stream.publicbroadcasting.net/production/mp3/wwno/local-wwno-851750.mp3
New Orleans, La. – The panel will be deciding 16 counts against the former nine-term congressman, accused of corrupting his public office for personal gain. The federal judge just outside Washington, D.C., set closing arguments for both sides today. Each has 2 hours to sum up their case. Prosecutors presented witnesses who testified that Jefferson insisted his family get a cut of the deals he was helping arrange in western Africa. Jefferson's attorneys have said his private business deals were not part of his official duties. While the government took weeks to present its case through several witnesses and tapes of secretly recorded meetings, the defense presented its case in just over two hours. Jefferson did not take the stand.