Jack Abramoff, a long-time Washington insider, has been a Republican lobbyist and fundraiser and was a Bush Pioneer. According to the College Republican National Committee (CRNC) web site (http://www.cfnc.org), he was Senior Director of Government Affairs for the Greenberg Traurig law and lobbying firm and was CRNC National Chairman from 1981-85. He is also a Director of the National Center for Public Policy Research. 

In 2004, Abramoff resigned from Greenberg Traurig amid a scandal related to spending irregularities in his work as a lobbyist for Native American tribes involved in gambling. The Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians paid $15 million dollars to Abramoff and Scanlon's organizations.

Abramoff pleaded guilty on January 3rd in U.S. District Court to honest services fraud, conspiracy and tax evasion relating to his service to Indian tribes, several of whom are Abramoff's former clients. Abramoff appeared in front of Judge Ellen Segal Huvelle.

Huvelle received acknowledgement from Abramoff when she said he had engaged in a conspiracy involving "corruption of public officials" and that he and others had engaged in a scheme to provide campaign contributions, trips and other items "in exchange for certain official acts."

The plea deal carries up to 30 years in prison, but prosecutors will recommend a sentence of 9 1/2 to 11 years, providing Abramoff cooperates with federal prosecutors. Restitution to his clients could be at least $25 million. As part of the agreement, Abramoff will lay out of all his finances and all of his activities within 45 days, at which point the government will determine exactly how much he must pay. He will also have to pay $1.7 million to the IRS.

As part of the plea deal, Abramoff has also agreed to give "truthful information" and to testify if necessary to a grand jury or to a trial before a jury. "The defendant understands that this plea agreement is explicitly dependent upon his providing completely truthful testimony in any trial or other proceeding, whether called as a witness by the Unites States, the defense or the court," reads the plea agreement.