Raymond F. Lederer

Raymond Francis Lederer ( born May 19, 1938 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, † December 1, 2008 ) was an American politician (Democratic Party), Member of the House of Representatives of the United States and convicted as part of Operation Abscam FBI.

Life

Raymond F. Lederer had from 1974 to 1977 a seat in the House of Representatives from Pennsylvania. In 1976 he was elected for the third district of Pennsylvania in the Congress. In January 1977 he took up his mandate and was confirmed in 1978. He defeated his rivals each of the Republican Party ( Republican Party ) with over 70 % of the vote.

Corruption and operation Abscam

To combat corruption and trafficking in stolen goods in 1978 the FBI launched Operation Abscam. In this context, the investigating authorities established the company " Abdul Enterprises, Ltd.. " and undercover FBI agents posing as businessmen from the Middle East. In secret meetings with government officials, which were recorded on video, the agents promised this money in return for political support in favor of an unnamed sheikh. On September 11, 1979 Lederer was filmed in a motel in New York in how he took $ 50,000 bribe counter with the words "I can give you me " in cash. In a later hearing Lederer et al sentenced to prison. Of all convicted politicians from the Abscam negotiations he was re-elected as the only in the elections in 1980 again, but resigned to preempt one of the ethics committee decision. Raymond Francis Lederer spent 10 months in prison and died at the age of 70 from lung cancer.