Jack Abramoff

A former chairman of the College Republicans and a superlobbyist.

Jack Abramoff was convicted of fraud, conspiracy and tax evasion and is currently incarcerated at the Federal Correctional Institution in Cumberland, Maryland. Abramoff pled guilty on January 3, 2006, to three criminal felony counts in a Washington, D.C., federal court related to the defrauding of American Indian tribes and corruption of public officials.[1] The following day, on January 4, he pled guilty to two criminal felony counts in a separate federal court, in Miami, related to his fraudulent dealings with SunCruz Casinos.[2]

On March 29, 2006, he was sentenced to five years and ten months in prison and ordered to pay restitution of more than $21 million. His prison sentence was the minimum permitted under a plea bargain with federal prosecutors, in part because of his purported cooperation in the federal investigation. In October 2006, more than six months after his sentencing, he was ordered by a federal judge to report to federal prison by November 15, 2006.

The delay in Abramoff's imprisonment allowed him to testify in a related investigation involving the Florida gang-style murder of SunCruz Casinos owner Konstantinos Boulis and to continue cooperation with a vast investigation related to federal lobbying and related activities.

Given the complexity of the alleged crimes by Abramoff and his associates and their apparent ability to alter major pieces of federal legislation through their illegal acts, the U.S. Department of Justice has appointed an entire inter-governmental task force, including the FBI, which has been aggressively investigating Abramoff and dozens of his closest political associates and Congressional allies for nearly two years.

The extensive corruption investigation has led to the conviction of White House officials J. Steven Griles and David Safavian, U.S. Representative Bob Ney, and nine other lobbyists and Congressional aides.