Ethics Newsline®

“I’m not the same man who happily and arrogantly engaged in a lifestyle of political and business corruption…. My name is the butt of a joke, the source of a laugh, and the title of a scandal.”

– Former lobbyist and power broker Jack Abramoff, speaking last week at his sentencing for conspiracy, fraud, and corrupting public officials. Last week’s sentence of four years — far lower than the possible maximum of 11 years — still came as a shock to the formerly high-flying insider, currently two years into a prison term for a fraud conviction in Florida. While Abramoff appeared penitent at last week’s sentencing, the Associated Press notes that he has been cooperating with the author of a book slated for release later this month that paints him as a scapegoat for wide-ranging Washington corruption. “I never expected that I would have to go to prison,” Abramoff reportedly says in the book, “until it became clear that the media could not allow this play to close without the hanging of the villain.”

Sources: AP, Sep. 4 — New York Times, Sep. 4.

For more information, see: Related Newsline story, Aug. 20, 2007 — Related Newsline story, Mar. 26, 2007 — Related Newsline story, Jan. 1, 2007 — Related Newsline story, Nov. 20, 2006.