WASHINGTON, Oct 13: A Republican congressman pleaded guilty on Friday to accepting meals, drinks, gambling chips and other items worth tens of thousands of dollars, becoming the first lawmaker convicted in the Jack Abramoff political corruption scandal.
Rep. Bob Ney of Ohio, who abandoned his re-election race in August as the US Justice Department investigated his links to the convicted lobbyist Abramoff, said he will resign from Congress in the next few weeks and was ashamed of the way his public service career was ending.
Appearing a federal court a few blocks from the Capitol, Ney stood before the judge during the 30-minute court hearing and said, “I plead guilty your honour.”
He gave brief answers to the judge’s questions and said he has been in an alcohol treatment programme during the past month.
In a statement issued after the hearing, Ney said: “I have made mistakes of judgment and acted in ways that I am not proud of.”
House Speaker J. Dennis Hastert of Illinois and other Republican House leaders issued a joint statement saying, “Bob Ney must be punished for the criminal actions he has acknowledged. He betrayed his oath of office and violated the trust of those he represented in the House. There is no place for him in this Congress.”
The Abramoff scandal and the scandal involving lewd computer messages sent by disgraced former Rep. Mark Foley to young male congressional aides have hurt Republicans as they seek to keep control of the US Congress in the November elections.
The Abramoff scandal also has reached into the White House, with the conviction of former Bush administration official David Safavian and last week’s resignation of Susan Ralston, an aide to top presidential political adviser Karl Rove.
Ney, who reached a plea deal with prosecutors last month, admitted he conspired to commit fraud and other offenses and that he filed false financial disclosure forms.
“I accept responsibility for my actions and I am prepared to face the consequences of what I have done,” he said in his statement.
US District Judge Ellen Segal Huvelle told the 52-year-old Ney that he faced a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison and that, as part of his plea deal, prosecutors recommended he get 27 months in prison.
Huvelle told Ney she was not bound by the government’s recommendation and set sentencing for Jan. 19.
Ney’s lawyer, Mark Tuohey, requested that Ney be given treatment for his alcoholism while in prison.—Reuters
