Cross-posted from my (mostly) Katrina recovery blog, The Wayward Episcopalian: Nathan on New Orleans.

New Orleans' Congressman, Democrat Bill Jefferson, was finally indicted by a Grand Jury today. You'll forgive me for feeling smug. While in New Orleans in the fall, I volunteered for Karen Carter, his Democratic opponent in the 2006 election. He won, she lost, and lots of voters said, "Well if they were going to indict him, they would have done it by now! Clearly he didn't do anything wrong!" FBI probes do not work overnight, that should have been obvious.

It's sad that some of our Congressmen are corrupt. It's sad that it was finally a member of my party that got in trouble (although he's still not one of our leaders like DeLay or Libby, and the score is still at least 7-1). It's sad that New Orleans may lose a lot of seniority in Congress at a time when it needs it real bad. But it's a good thing that bad guys get caught and that corruption leads to jail.

From the AP:
Jury indicts Jefferson in bribery probe
By LARA JAKES JORDAN, Associated Press Writer
18 minutes ago

WASHINGTON - "Rep. William Jefferson (news, bio, voting record), D-La., was indicted Monday on federal charges of racketeering, soliciting bribes and money-laundering in a long-running bribery investigation into business deals he tried to broker in Africa.

The indictment handed up in federal court in Alexandria., Va., Monday is 94 pages long and lists 16 alleged violations of federal law that could keep Jefferson in prison for up to 235 years, according to a Justice Department official who has seen the document.

Among the charges listed in the indictment, said the official, are racketeering, soliciting bribes, wire fraud, money-laundering, obstruction of justice, conspiracy and violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss the case.

Jefferson is accused of soliciting bribes for himself and his family, and also for bribing a Nigerian official."