Abscam (Contd.)

Once again, a guilty verdict

Congressman Frank Thompson Jr., 62, of Trenton, N.J., is a 26-year House veteran and the highly respected chairman of its Administration Committee. Congressman John M. Murphy, 54, of Staten Island is chairman of the House Merchant Marine and Fisheries Committee. Last week they became the most powerful men convicted in the Abscam probe to date. A Brooklyn jury found Thompson guilty of bribery and conspiracy and convicted Murphy of receiving an unlawful gratuity, conflict of interest and conspiracy. They face jail sentences of up to 22 years for Thompson and nine for Murphy.

A hidden camera recorded seven hours of sessions at which an FBI agent posing as the representative of an Arab sheik tried to bribe Murphy and Thompson with $50,000 each in return for helping the sheik to immigrate to the U.S. The money was carried away in a briefcase by Howard Criden, a Philadelphia lawyer and an alleged conspirator, who is to be tried later. Thompson and Murphy insisted they had never received any funds and had met with the fake sheik's emissary only to encourage the Arabs to make investments in their districts. Not only did the jury not believe the Congressmen, their constituents had doubts as well. Both were defeated in last month's election.

Thompson's and Murphy's best hope now is that Judge George Pratt will follow the precedent of Philadelphia Judge John P. Fullam, who last month overturned the convictions of two city councilmen on the grounds that the elaborate FBI operation had entrapped the defendants and induced them to commit a crime. The two Congressmen plan to appeal, but they may have difficulty arguing that they were entrapped, because they did not raise the issue in their trial.

The trial of Florida's Congressman Richard Kelly, indicted for receiving $25,000, continues this week in Washington. Still to come: the cases of Congressman Raymond Lederer of Philadelphia and New Jersey Senator Harrison Williams, accused of taking mining stock as a bribe.