Disgraced Ex-lobbyist Begins 6-year Prison Stint

CUMBERLAND, Maryland (AP) -- Disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff, convicted of federal charges after using expensive gifts, campaign donations and exotic trips to win access to the powerful in Washington, went to prison Wednesday.
Abramoff arrived at about 6:30 a.m. ET at a relatively secluded prison facility in western Maryland and began serving a nearly six-year prison sentence for a fraudulent deal to buy a fleet of casino ships in Florida.
Abramoff was delivered out of sight of waiting reporters and camera crews and his arrival was announced in a two-paragraph statement by a prison representative.
The part of the camp where Abramoff will be kept is a 334-bed minimum-security facility located near an industrial park along the north branch of the Potomac River.
The camp is all male. It consists of a number of two-story dormitories that are light red cinderblock structures. Each dormitory contains a number of six-bed cubicles, and Abramoff was being assigned to one of those. The prison is nearly surrounded by Appalachian Mountain ridges rising along either bank of the Potomac on the Maryland and West Virginia sides of the river.
From millions to 12 cents an hour
Stephen Finger, executive assistant at the prison, said all inmates work while there. Incoming inmates such as Abramoff typically are assigned to menial jobs such as food service work. Finer said that inmates can work their way up from low-level jobs paying 12 cents an hour to better positions paying up to 40 cents an hour.
Abramoff also is awaiting sentencing for corrupting government officials and their staff members. He made a name for himself on Capitol Hill by lavishing politicians with football tickets or whisking them away on faraway golf junkets, and thus became the face of government corruption. This contributed to the Republican Party's Election Day defeats nationwide.
If it were up to the Justice Department, however, Abramoff wouldn't be heading to prison -- at least not yet. He could hold the key to a sweeping corruption case involving Congress, members of the Bush administration and their aides, and prosecutors said putting their star witness behind bars would impede the investigation.

Well, while I hope his imprisionment does not impede further investigation of his other Congressional and Administration cronies, I must say I am pleased to see this wanna-be Tony Soprano figure (what exactly is up with the weird 1930’s gangster get-ups he wears?) right where he belongs. It’s about time that white collar crooks, which rip this country and working class people out of millions, get the prison time they so ‘richly’ deserve.