Abramoff gets minimum sentence of 5 years, 10 mo
Jack A. Abramoff, the once-powerful Republican lobbyist at the center of a major corruption scandal, was sentenced Wednesday to five years and 10 months in prison for his role in the fraudulent purchase of a fleet of casino cruise ships. An associate received the same sentence.
U.S. District Judge Paul C. Huck sentenced Abramoff, 47, and his former partner, Adam R. Kidan, 41, to the shortest possible prison terms under sentencing guidelines in the case. In pleading for the minimum sentence, lawyers for each defendant laid most of the blame on the other for the scam, in which they faked a $23 million wire transfer to obtain financing for the 2000 purchase of SunCruz Casinos from an owner who was later shot to death in a gangland-style hit.
In response to his sentence, Abramoff told the judge,
“As you can imagine, this day is incredibly painful for my family, my friends and me…Over the past two years, I have started the process of becoming a new man.”
Wearing a gray double-breasted suit and appearing somber, Abramoff said he was
“very much chastened and profoundly remorseful over the reckless and hurtful things I have done in my life… I can only hope that the Almighty and those whom I have wronged will forgive me my trespasses,”
he finished.
Abramoff faces the prospect of at least a few additional years in prison when he is sentenced in a separate case in Washington, D.C. However, lawyers said, his overall sentence ultimately could be reduced depending on his cooperation with federal investigators.
In addition to their prison terms, Huck ordered Abramoff and Kidan to pay restitution of $21.7 million. He agreed to give them at least 90 days before they must surrender for incarceration, so they can continue cooperating in the separate corruption and murder investigations.
In the Washington case, Abramoff pleaded guilty in January to federal charges of fraud, tax evasion and conspiracy to bribe public officials. His plea deal with federal prosecutors in that case required him to cooperate with a broad federal investigation of corruption involving members of Congress, congressional staffers, other lobbyists and employees of the Interior Department and other federal agencies.
Among the congressmen whose names have come up in the probe are Rep. Robert W. Ney (R-Ohio), former chairman of the House Administration Committee, and Rep. Tom DeLay (R-Tex.), the former House majority leader. Ney has been identified as the “Representative #1″ who, according to court documents, received bribes from Abramoff in exchange for official acts, including congressional statements that promoted the SunCruz deal during contentious purchase negotiations. DeLay, who once described Abramoff as “one of my closest and dearest friends,” took three overseas trips with the lobbyist and received more than $70,000 in political contributions from him, his associates and his Native American tribal clients. Ney and DeLay have denied any wrongdoing.
Abramoff also raised funds and made political contributions to President Bush while becoming a major player in Republican efforts to dominate Washington lobbying. He has claimed close ties to the Bush White House, although the president has publicly denied knowing him.
The delay in incarcerating Abramoff and Kidan allows them to continue cooperating with the corruption probe and a Florida investigation into the February 2001 murder of Konstantinos “Gus” Boulis, the former SunCruz owner with whom Abramoff and Kidan quarreled. Boulis was shot to death while driving near his Fort Lauderdale office. Three men have been charged with the killing, one of whom — allegedly connected to the New York mafia — was hired by Kidan to provide catering and security services for SunCruz.
Abramoff and Kidan have denied any involvement in the murder or knowledge of it.
Abramoff faces nine-and-a-half to 11 years in prison as a result of his plea deal in the Washington corruption case, which essentially stems from his lobbying activities on behalf of Native American tribes. But Abramoff’s attorneys and federal prosecutors agreed that his eventual sentence from that case would run concurrently with the sentence handed down in Miami.
In the SunCruz case, Abramoff admitted that he and Kidan defrauded lenders in the $147.5 million purchase of a fleet of gambling boats based in Florida. The two were charged with faking the wire transfer of a $23 million down payment to create the appearance that they were putting their own money into the purchase in order to obtain a $60 million loan.
In pleading for the shortest sentence from Huck, Abramoff’s lawyers cited his cooperation with federal investigators.
“The literally hundreds of hours he has spent, the hundreds of thousands of documents he has reviewed, and the dozens of topics he has been assisting with in themselves would merit a sentence at the bottom of the stipulated range,” attorneys Abbe Lowell and Neal Sonnett wrote in a lengthy memo. In contrast to media portrayals of Abramoff that have “made him into a caricature and distorted a lifetime of accomplishments,” the lawyers wrote, their client “is an even larger figure in matters of family, faith, generosity and remorse.”
wapost
Stumble it!