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Ex-lobbyist Abramoff gets prison sentence
Fraud in Florida casino deal fetches 6 years in federal prison

Wednesday, March 29, 2006; Posted: 2:49 p.m. EST (19:49 GMT)

MIAMI, Florida (AP) -- Jack Abramoff, the disgraced lobbyist at the center of a Washington corruption scandal, was sentenced Wednesday to nearly six years in prison for fraud in the purchase of a Florida casino cruise line.

U.S. District Judge Paul C. Huck sentenced Abramoff and a former business partner to five years and 10 months in prison and ordered them to pay restitution of more than $21 million.

The sentences were the minimum under their plea agreement in the case.

Abramoff, 47, and Adam Kidan, 41, both pleaded guilty to conspiracy and wire fraud.

They won't start their for at least 90 days so they can continue cooperating in a Washington corruption investigation and a Florida probe into the murder of Konstantinos "Gus" Boulis, owner of the SunCruz Casinos fleet they bought.

In court, Abramoff said the case was "incredibly painful" for himself, his family and his friends.

"In the past few years I have begun the process of becoming a new man," he said.

Wearing a dark suit and tan, baseball-style cap, Abramoff arrived at the courthouse several hours early, avoiding the media. He and his lawyers did not speak to reporters as they left the courthouse.

Before the hearing, more than 260 people -- including rabbis, military officers and even a professional hockey referee -- wrote letters on his behalf asking the federal judge for leniency.

The letters put a new spin on the foibles and crimes of a man who became the face of Washington's latest corruption scandal.

"Jack is a good person, who in his quest to be successful, lost sight of the rules," National Hockey League referee Dave Jackson wrote, describing the time Abramoff brought 14 youngsters to his dressing room before a game.

Kidan, in his own letter to the judge, said he knew the SunCruz deal was wrong but said he "was very caught up in the fast paced world of my partner and the high profile that came along with it." He added, "I am not the horrible person that the media has written about."

The two admitted concocting a fake $23 million wire transfer to make it appear they had made a large cash contribution to the $147.5 million SunCruz purchase. Based on that fake transfer, lenders provided the pair with $60 million in financing.

The same week Abramoff pleaded guilty to the SunCruz fraud, he entered guilty pleas to three federal charges as part of a wide-ranging corruption probe that could involve up to 20 members of Congress and aides, including former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, a Texas Republican.

No sentencing date has been set in that case.

Abramoff and Kidan are expected to give statements in the investigation into the February 6, 2001, slaying of Boulis, who was gunned down at the wheel of his car amid a power struggle over the gambling fleet.

Meanwhile, three men face murder charges, including one who worked for Kidan as a consultant at SunCruz and who allegedly has ties to New York's Gambino crime family.

Both Abramoff and Kidan have repeatedly denied any role in or knowledge of the Boulis murder.

But prosecutors say Kidan has not been ruled out as a suspect and defense attorneys say Abramoff could provide critical inside information about the dispute with Boulis, who also founded the Miami Subs restaurant chain.

Ultimately, cooperation in those investigations could reduce Abramoff's and Kidan's sentences.

http://www.cnn.com/2006/LAW/03/29/abram ... index.html

Senate passes legislation to reduce Congressional ties w/lobbyists

Senate passes lobbying, ethics reform
Lawmakers approve, 90-8, first new ethics rules in a decade

Updated: 5:08 p.m. ET March 29, 2006

WASHINGTON - The Senate gave lopsided approval Wednesday to scandal-inspired legislation restricting lobbyist gift-giving and making lobbying activities more open.

Critics said the measure fell short of steps needed to restore the integrity of Congress in the eyes of the public.

The 90-8 vote came just hours after a U.S. district judge in Miami sentenced former lobbyist Jack Abramoff, whose influence-peddling activities spawned the Senate action, to five years and 10 months in prison on conspiracy and wire fraud charges.

The Senate on Wednesday also defeated a proposal by Sen. Russ Feingold, D-Wis., to extend the gift and meal ban to include people working at companies hiring lobbyists. “We ought to just stop the practice of dining out at the expense of others,” he said. But opponents argued that the ban was overly restrictive, and it was defeated 68-30.

Both House and Senate leaders have made lobbying and ethics reform a priority this year after the influence-peddling scandal involving Abramoff and the conviction of former Rep. Randy “Duke” Cunningham, R-Calif., on bribery charges further eroded popular opinion of Congress.

“We’re dealing with a reality here that public confidence in Congress is very low, it is perilously low,” said Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee Chairman Susan Collins, R-Maine, a leading sponsor of the legislation.

But many were dissatisfied with the final product, saying it didn’t go far enough to cut unhealthy ties between lawmakers and lobbyists. The Senate bill does not ban privately funded trips, and on Tuesday the Senate defeated a priority of clean government groups: a proposal to establish an independent Office of Public Integrity to carry out investigations of possible ethics violations by senators.

Such investigations are now done by the Senate ethics committee, composed of three Republicans and three Democrats, and members of the panel led the effort to reject the new office, proposed by Collins and Sen. Joe Lieberman, D-Conn. The measure was defeated 67-30.

Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., a proponent of independent investigations, said it was necessary because currently the work of Congress “doesn’t really matter because the American people perceive the entire ethics system, House and Senate, to be broken.”

But Senate ethics committee members said their panel is doing its job — unlike the House ethics committee, which has been paralyzed by partisan battles. The new office, which under the Collins proposal would still cede ultimate authority on punitive actions to the Senate committee, means “more bureaucracy and a more belabored process,” said Senate ethics committee member Tim Johnson, D-S.D.

Common Cause President Chellie Pingree expressed disappointment in the Senate vote. “Even as the Justice Department investigates possible corruption of at least half a dozen members of Congress, the Senate today is refusing to acknowledge that Congress — in the eyes of the public — has failed to police itself.”

More sunshine on 'holds'
The Senate approved, by 84-13, a proposal offered by Sens. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., and Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, to end the practice of secret “holds” in which senators can single-handedly block action on legislation. It would require a senator taking advantage of this common procedure to publish a notice of the objection in the Congressional Record within three days.

“It’s time to force these objections out of the shadows and into the sunshine,” Wyden said.

The Senate lobbying bill would ban accepting meals from lobbyists, require lobbyists to make quarterly reports of their contacts with lawmakers, and force lawmakers to wait two years before accepting jobs lobbying Congress, up from the current one-year moratorium.

The bill also sets up a procedure by which lawmakers can try to eliminate from legislation those earmarks, or specific projects, that often are inserted without the knowledge or vote of other members.

The House has yet to take up similar legislation emphasizing greater disclosure of lobbyist activity.

But House Republicans stepped up their call for a measure reining in outside political groups that are permitted to accept donations of unlimited size. Rep. Eric Cantor, R-Va., said the proposal would close a loophole that exists despite enactment of a law in 2002 banning federal office holders and candidates as well as the political parties from accepting unlimited donations.

Republicans earlier made clear they hope to reduce the clout of these groups, arguing that Democrats benefit disproportionately from their existence.

The Senate lobbying reform bill is S. 2349.