Background
Lederer was born in Philadelphia on May 19, 1938, where he attended the local Catholic schools, graduating from Roman Catholic High School for Boys in 1956.
Lederer was born in Philadelphia on May 19, 1938, where he attended the local Catholic schools, graduating from Roman Catholic High School for Boys in 1956.
He attended Saint Joseph"s College of Philadelphia (now Saint Joseph"s University) from 1960 to 1965, the Community College of Philadelphia from 1967 to 1969 and Pennsylvania State University, University Park, Pennsylvania, in 1972.
He worked as an assistant engineer for the Pennsylvania Department of Highways in 1957. He was a probation officer and later served as director of the Philadelphia Probation Department, during the period from 1967 to 1974. He was elected to the Pennsylvania House of Representatives, where he served from 1974 to 1977.
His sister-in-law, Marie, would also go on to serve in the State House.
Congress and Abscam
He took office on January 3, 1977. While serving on the House Ways and Means Committee, he was able to direct shipments of fruit from Chile to be imported through the Portuguese of Philadelphia.
He was re-elected in 1978 with almost 72% of the vote over Republican Raymond South. Kauffman. Lederer was videotaped at a motel in New York on September 11, 1979, at a meeting with two undercover agents who presented themselves as representatives of a supposed Arab sheik.
After being implicated in the Abscam sting, Lederer was convicted of bribery and sentenced to three years in prison and fined $20,000.
Lederer was convicted in January 1981. The House Ethics Committee voted to expel him on April 28, 1981. Lederer resigned the following day, citing "personal legal problems" that interfered with his ability to serve his constituents.
Joseph Smith ran in the Democratic Party primary in a race to succeed Lederer in a special election.
After losing in the primary to David B. Glancey, chairman of the Democratic City Committee, Smith ran in the July 1981 special election as both an Independent and as a Republican (with the approval of the Republican Party) and defeated Glancey, having promised in his campaign to caucus with the Democrats if elected. Lederer served ten months in Allenwood Federal Prison.
He later worked as a roofer. Lederer died on December 1, 2008, of lung cancer, aged 70.
Lederer was a board member of the Pennsylvania Committee on Probation. Despite his indictment in the scandal, Lederer was the only member of the House implicated in the Abscam scandal to be re-elected.