Abramoff sentenced to 70 months in prison

From the Houston Chronicle:

Assuring the judge he is working to become "a new man," disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff was sentenced today to nearly six years in prison for committing fraud in the purchase of a fleet of gambling boats.

He will remain free while helping prosecutors with a vast bribery investigation involving members of Congress.

Abramoff, 47, and former business partner Adam Kidan, 41, received the minimum under federal guidelines: five years and 10 months.

And

He also agreed to cooperate in a corruption probe that could involve up to 20 members of Congress, including former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay of Texas. No date has been set for his sentencing in that case.

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Abramoff is a criminal of the highest order. Five years seems not enough. His crimes attacked the very nature of democracy itself, bending the will of the people by bribing their representatives. In my opinion, what he did is almost as bad as murder; he helped move the country further down the slippery slope toward plutocracy. And that's pretty damned sick. Of course, Abramoff is only one part of the overall plot to destroy America, a plot that has, by and large, already succeeded. Thousands of people are in on this--and I'm not talking conspiracy; this is done openly (see my post yesterday). The real fun's going to happen soon when Abramoff starts naming names. Maybe when a few of these guys go down we'll start hearing about some real reform. Nothing like fear to make the rats scurry. I guess the lenient sentence is well worth it, if only for that.

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