A federal judge said the revelation of a sexual relationship between a key government witness in the William Jefferson case and an FBI agent is not grounds for a new trial for the former Congressman, who was convicted in August on 11 of 16 federal corruption charges.
In a June 8 court filing just before jury selection, prosecutors notified the court that lead FBI agent Timothy Thibault had learned that witness Lori Mody had engaged in a sexual relationship with a then-FBI agent during the federal investigation.? The prosecution revealed that the ex-agent, John Guandolo, was serving as Mody's driver while she was working with the FBI.
As a cooperating witness, Mody, a Virginia businesswoman, secretly taped her conversations with Jefferson, including the now infamous delivery of $100,000 in cash stashed in a briefcase.? The prosecution's refusal to call her to testify during the trial surprised some court observers.
In their motion for a new trial, Jefferson's defense attorneys claim that they should have been able to use the information concerning Mody's affair with her driver, to point to questions about Thibault's credibility and the foundation of the FBI's case against the ex-Congressman.
In a court ruling released Monday, U.S. District Judge T.S. Ellis III denied Jefferson's motion for a new trial, saying that there was no indication that the FBI agents knew of Mody's relationship with her driver prior to June 5 and "there was no basis to conclude that Special Agent Thibault's ignorance of the relationship was relevant to his credibility."
Ellis also ruled that the relationship between Mody and Guandolo "was not relevant to the reliability of the evidence collected during the course of the investigation," nor did it have an impact on other witnesses in the case.? Ellis also ruled that since Mody did not testify, her credibility was not an issue.
Jefferson is scheduled for sentencing before Judge Ellis on October 30.
