No jail time for figure in Abramoff scandal

[DearAbby]

WASHINGTON - A tearful former Justice Department attorney was spared a jail sentence Tuesday for his role in the influence peddling scandal surrounding former lobbyist Jack Abramoff.

U.S. District Judge Ellen Huvelle said Robert Coughlin did not deserve prison time for his actions, even as she marveled at the number of disgraced government officials who had become enmeshed in the Abramoff case.

"This entire Abramoff-related matter raises a lot of questions," said Huvelle, who recently oversaw an Abramoff-related trial that ended in a hung jury and who has presided over the cases of other defendants in the influence-peddling probe.

More at Link
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/34135714/ns/us_news-crime_and_courts/?ocid=twitter

[ixion]

1. well, gee, it's a good thing he wasn't caught smoking a joint

he could have been in real trouble. :eyes:

[underpants]

2. Read "The Wrecking Crew" by Thomas Frank

Abramoff has been a center figure in the Republican revolution going back to his days in the College Republicans with Norquist