Ex-Louisiana Lawmaker Gets 7 Years-Plus In Racketeering Plot

A former Louisiana lawmaker has been sentenced to more than seven years in federal prison for her role in a plot to pocket hundreds of thousands of dollars earmarked for charitable and educational programs.

U.S. District Judge Ivan Lemelle on Wednesday sentenced Renee Gill Pratt to 87 months behind bars — seven years, three months — for her racketeering conspiracy conviction. She faced up to 20 years in prison.

The judge also ordered her to pay just over $1 million in restitution.

A jury convicted Gill Pratt, a former state representative and New Orleans City Council member, in a retrial of conspiring to loot more than $1 million from taxpayer-funded charities controlled by relatives of former U.S. Rep. William Jefferson. Her first trial ended with a deadlocked jury.