Justice Department and Abramoff lawyers agree to jail time delay

Justice Department and Abramoff lawyers agree to jail time delay

The Justice Department and attorneys for disgraced former lobbyist Jack Abramoff have agreed to postpone for at least three months the day he has to report to federal prison — the latest sign that Abramoff’s continued cooperation with an ongoing corruption probe in Washington, D.C., is proving helpful to prosecutors.

Abramoff had been scheduled to surrender himself to the Bureau of Prisons on June 29 to begin the 70-month prison sentence handed down by Judge Paul Huck of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida. Abramoff and Adam Kidan, Abramoff’s former business partner in a Florida-based gambling cruise ship company, pleaded guilty in January to mail and wire fraud in that case, and each received the same prison sentence from Huck.

Justice officials and Abramoff’s lawyers filed a joint motion with Huck on Friday night asking for a three-month reprieve for Abramoff, who is cooperating with federal prosecutors in an ongoing probe that has roiled official Washington.

It was unclear at press time whether Huck has approved the joint motion, which was filed after the federal court in Miami closed on Friday. Several calls to Huck’s office were not returned.

http://www.rawstory.com/news/2006/Justice_Department_and_Abramoff_lawyers_agree_0620.html


Safavian Found Guilty in Lobbyist Trial
Jun 20, 9:56 AM (ET)
By PETE YOST

WASHINGTON (AP) - A jury found former Bush administration official David Safavian guilty Tuesday of covering up his dealings with Republican influence-peddler Jack Abramoff.

Safavian was convicted on four of five felony counts of lying and obstruction. He resigned from his White House post last year as the federal government's chief procurement officer. No date was immediately set for sentencing.

The trial consumed eight days of testimony about Safavian's assistance to Abramoff regarding government-owned real estate and a weeklong golfing excursion the lobbyist organized to the famed St. Andrews golf course in Scotland and London. Safavian went on the trans-Atlantic trip while he was chief of staff at the General Services Administration, and other participants were Rep. Bob Ney, R-Ohio, two Ney aides and Christian Coalition founder Ralph Reed.

http://apnews.myway.com/article/20060620/D8IBVTO00.html

3-month reprieve? :eyes: