Former New Orleans school board head gets 18 months in prison for her role in bribery scheme

Ex-La. school official gets prison in bribery case

NEW ORLEANS — The former president of New Orleans’ school board has been sentenced to 18 months in federal prison for her role in a bribery scheme involving a brother of former U.S. Rep. William Jefferson.

Ellenese Brooks-Simms was sentenced Thursday. She pleaded guilty in 2007 to conspiracy to take more than $100,000 from Mose Jefferson in return for supporting the board’s purchase of a classroom software program he was hawking.

U.S. Attorney Jim Letten said Brooks-Simms cooperated extensively with investigators — even secretly taping conversations with Mose Jefferson.

Mose Jefferson was convicted in the case last year and sentenced to 10 years in prison.

William Jefferson is out on bond appealing a 13-year federal prison sentence for his conviction in a separate case.