A Republican former congressman was sentenced to two-and- a-half years in prison for trading political favors for golf trips, campaign donations and other gifts in an influence peddling scandal.
Representative Bob Ney, the first congressman convicted in the federal bribery investigation involving lawmakers, their aides and Bush administration officials, pleaded guilty in October to conspiracy and making false statements. Democrats last year campaigned against what they said was a Republican "culture of corruption" as they won control of both houses of Congress.
The six-term lawmaker, who once chaired the powerful House Administration Committee, accepted golf and gambling trips, tickets to sporting events, free meals and campaign donations arranged by lobbyist Jack Abramoff and his associates.
As committee chairman, Ney was instrumental in getting the chamber's cafeterias to change french fries on their menus to freedom fries to protest French opposition to the US-led war in Iraq.
"You violated a host of laws that you as a congressman are sworn to enforce and uphold," US District Judge Ellen Segal Huvelle said on Friday.
Ney will also serve two years probation and must pay a US$6,000 fine. Huvelle recommended he enter a prison alcohol rehabilitation program for treatment of a drinking problem Ney has spoken of in recent months. Completing the program could knock about a year off his sentence.
Huvelle did not set a date for Ney to report to prison. He resigned from Congress in November, just before the elections.
The sentence was harsher than recommended by prosecutors, Huvelle said, because Ney had violated the trust placed on him as a public official.
"Both your constituents and the public trusted you to represent them honestly," she said.
Ney apologized to his family and constituents during a brief statement.
"I will continue to take full responsibility, accept the consequences and battle the demons of addiction that are within me," he said.
Ney's election-year actions drew criticism from Republican congressional leaders and the White House. Bush spokesman Tony Snow said Ney's criminal activity "is not a reflection of the Republican Party."
The gifts Ney received ranged from a trip to Scotland bankrolled by some of Abramoff's clients to thousands of dollars in gambling chips that Ney got on two overseas junkets from foreign businessman Fouad al-Zayat, a Syrian-born aviation company owner in Cyprus.
Abramoff, once an influential lobbyist, is the star witness in an FBI corruption investigation that has shaken Congress. He is serving prison time for a fraudulent Florida casino deal.
Ney's sentencing is the latest development in a long-running investigation that so far has yielded convictions of several former congressional aides and two members of the Bush administration -- David Safavian and Robert Stillwell.
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