Abramoff gets 4 more years in prison

Disgraced lobbyist sentenced in federal court for role in far-reaching corruption scandal

By Richard B. Schmitt | Los Angeles Times

September 5, 2008

WASHINGTON -

Jack A. Abramoff, the once-powerful Republican super-lobbyist, was sentenced to 48 months in prison yesterday for his role in a corruption scandal that rocked Congress and the Bush administration.

U.S. District Judge Ellen S. Huvelle pronounced the sentence as a tearful Abramoff stood before her with his lawyers.

The sentence was far below the 121 months that Abramoff could have received under federal sentencing guidelines but more than either the Justice Department or his lawyers had requested.

Huvelle said Abramoff deserved the sharp reduction because of his help in aiding prosecutors to pursue other targets in the lobbying scandal. But she also said that she wanted to send a strong signal that compromising the integrity of public officials would not be taken lightly.

Huvelle said Abramoff had "corrupted the political process and deprived the public of the honest services" of officials in the executive and legislative branches.

Abramoff, who has been in prison nearly two years on a separate bank fraud conviction in Florida, seemed shocked when Huvelle handed down her sentence, looking at his wife and children and shaking his head.

The judge said the effect of her sentence would be that Abramoff would be in prison "just shy of six years," including the time he has served.

"I view that as fair. ... That is a substantial amount of time," Huvelle said. "But there has been serious wrongdoing here and in Florida."

Addressing the court before sentencing, Abramoff acknowledged that he had "happily and arrogantly engaged" in a corrupt lifestyle but that "I come before you today as a broken man."

"I have fallen into an abyss, your honor, and I don't know quite how to get out," he said. "My name is the butt of jokes, the source of laughs, the title of scandals, the synonym for perfidy, and I am not sure that will ever change.

"I beg your honor to consider all the things you have heard today in rendering your judgment about how much longer I need to be away from my family," he concluded. "I am so sorry I put everyone through all this."

Abramoff was imprisoned nearly 20 months ago after he was convicted on charges of fraud and conspiracy in connection with his purchase of a casino boat operation in Florida. He has since been in a federal corrections facility in Western Maryland and, by the government's account, is cooperating in cases against some of his old cronies.

Abramoff pleaded guilty in January 2006 to showering public officials with gifts and inducing them to take official action on behalf of his once-thriving K Street lobbying team. The largesse included the use of luxury suites at Washington-area sports venues, free meals at an upscale restaurant Abramoff once owned in his heyday, an all-expenses-paid golf outing to Scotland, and other lavish inducements and perks.

The officials who were snagged in the influence-peddling scheme included former Rep. Bob Ney, an Ohio Republican who was sentenced to 30 months in prison for his role in what the government has called the federal crime of "honest services fraud." In court papers filed in advance of yesterday's hearing, prosecutors cited 10 other cases in which they said they benefited from tips and other information that Abramoff gave them.

With Abramoff's help, the Justice Department has also won corruption convictions against former Deputy Interior Secretary J. Steven Griles and several top Capitol Hill aides.

Because of that cooperation, prosecutors were reserved in their comments to the court. Rather than regaling the court with a summary of the misdeeds and the seriousness of the corruption, the Justice Department said little in court while urging leniency.

The Associated Press contributed to this article.