Monday, September 18, 2006

The full extent of Ohio Congressman Bob Ney's corruption became clear Friday
when the Justice Department released his admission to accepting thousands of
dollars' worth of gambling chips from a businessman in London, and to taking
trips and favors from others he agreed to help in Con gress. Ney agreed to
plead guilty to two felony counts, with the Jus tice Department rec
ommending that he serve 27 months in prison. The charges otherwise would
bring a maximum 10-year sentence and $500,000 fine. Yet, as he used a plea
agreement to finally end his claims of innocence, the once-popular
Republican from Ohio's 18th Congressional District remained out of sight. He
entered an undisclosed treatment center for alcoholism, and he and his
attorneys said alcohol dependency was a factor in his crimes. "I am not
making any excuses, and I take full responsibility for my actions," Ney, 52,
said in a statement released by his office. "Over the years I have worked to
help others, but now I am the one that needs help." Ney will not formally
enter his plea in U.S. District Court in Washington until Oct. 13. The
six-term representative from Heath is not running for re-election, and
Congress will be in pre-election recess by then. That makes it unclear
whether he will resign or merely let his term lapse.

Documents from the Justice Department and statements by investigators shed
light on the four-year corruption conspiracy. They say that Ney solicited
and took:

A golf trip to Scotland in 2002, a vacation and gambling trip to New Orleans
in 2003 and a trip to Lake George, N.Y., in 2003, with total costs exceeding
$170,000.

Thousands of dollars' worth of meals and tickets to concerts and sporting
events.

Tens of thousands of dollars in campaign contributions.