Corruption guilty plea raises heat for Ney

Tuesday, November 22, 2005
Sabrina Eaton
Plain Dealer Bureau
Washington - A political consultant who has been cooperating in a federal corruption probe admitted Monday his role in a bribery scheme that targeted Licking County Republican Rep. Bob Ney.

Documents released as part of Michael Scanlon's plea agreement in U.S. District Court revealed new details of trips, tickets to concerts and sporting events and campaign contributions that were allegedly provided to Ney and his staffers "in exchange for a series of official acts and influence."

Ney's office denies that improprieties occurred and says many of the actions detailed in Scanlon's plea agreement never took place. The congressman has been subpoenaed by federal investigators and has started a legal defense fund.

"All that this plea agreement shows is that Mr. Scanlon had a deliberate, secret and well-concealed scheme to defraud many people, and it appears, unfortunately, that Rep. Ney was one of the many people defrauded," said Ney spokesman Brian Walsh.

Scanlon, 35, a former aide to Rep. Tom DeLay of Texas, faces up to five years in prison, a fine of up to $250,000 and restitution of $19.7 million when he's sentenced by Judge Ellen Segal Huvelle. That will occur after federal authorities finish their corruption investigation. Scanlon has been cooperating with them since June, said one of his attorneys, Plato Cacheris.

In a crowded federal courtroom, Scanlon pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy, admitting in his plea agreement that his crime involved elements of bribery as well as mail and wire fraud.

The plea agreement says Scanlon's political communications firm charged exorbitant fees to four Indian tribes that operated casinos in western and southern states, and kicked back half his profits to "Lobbyist A," who has been publicly identified in a Senate investigation as lobbyist Jack Abramoff. It says the two provided "a stream of things of value" to public officials in exchange for official actions.

Justice Department officials would not discuss the scope of their inquiry or whether Ney and other members of Congress are targets. Asked by a reporter whether Scanlon's testimony would pose trouble for Ney, one of Scanlon's attorneys, Stephen Braga, replied, "Yes."

Scanlon's plea agreement refers to actions by "Representative No. 1," who Ney's lawyer, Mark Tuohey, acknowledges is his client. It says that "things of value were offered to and given to" the congressman, including:

A trip to the 2001 Super Bowl in Tampa, a golf trip to Scotland in 2002 and a staffer's trip to the Northern Marianas Islands in 2000.

Fund-raising events in luxury suites at sports venues and at a restaurant owned by Abramoff, as well as regular drinks and meals at Abramoff's restaurant.

Campaign contributions, including a $4,000 contribution to Ney's 2000 re-election campaign and a $10,000 contribution to the National Republican Campaign Committee at Ney's request.

Frequent golf and related expenses at courses in the Washington, D.C., area.

The documents claim that in exchange for such perks, Ney and members of his staff used "their official positions and influence" to put two statements in the Congressional Record to influence a casino boat line purchase that Abramoff was negotiating in Florida.

Ney also helped three Indian tribes represented by Abramoff with legislative matters pertaining to casinos, taxes and a California post office, according to the plea agreement.

And Ney helped an Abramoff client get a contract to wire the House for cellular telephone service, the documents say.

Tuohey, Ney's lawyer, said in an e-mail late Monday that he hadn't seen the latest court documents, "but the items described to me never happened, or they were categorically rejected by the congressman."