Friday, January 19, 2007

Bob Ney Gets 30 Months For Influence-Peddling

The New York Times reports: Ex-Congressman Sentenced to 30 Months in Prison
WASHINGTON, Jan. 19 — Former [Republican] Congressman Bob Ney [of Ohio] was sentenced to 30 months in prison today for accepting tens of thousands of dollars in illegal gifts in return for using his legislative influence to help his benefactors.
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Prosecutors had sought a sentence of 27 months and Mr. Ney’s lawyers had asked for no more than two years.
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But Judge Ellen Segal Huvelle, of the U.S. District Court in Washington, said Mr. Ney deserved additional time because of his “significant and serious abuse of the public trust.”
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In his plea bargain last year, Mr. Ney admitted that he had essentially sold his office to Mr. Abramoff’s lobbying operation and others in return for a series of lavish gifts.

Those gifts included overseas trips, the use of skyboxes at Washington-area sports arenas, meals, concert tickets and thousands of dollars worth of gambling chips in London casinos.