Abramoff sentenced to 4 years

Jack Abramoff, the once powerful lobbyist who had represented the CNMI’s government and was later at the epicenter of a landmark corruption scandal, was sentenced Friday to four years in prison, a decision that prompted a mix of reactions locally.

In a Washington, D.C., court, Abramoff fought back tears as he declared himself a broken man and appeared crestfallen as the judge handed down a sentence lengthier than prosecutors had sought.

“I’m not the same man who happily and arrogantly engaged in a lifestyle of political and business corruption,” he said before U.S. District Judge Ellen Segal Huvelle. “My name is the butt of a joke, the source of a laugh and the title of a scandal.”

Abramoff, 49, already has served nearly two years for his conviction in a related Florida fraud case. The sentence Thursday by U.S. District Judge Ellen Huvelle means that the former Republican lobbyist will likely remain in prison until 2012.

At the height of his influence, Abramoff was instrumental in blocking the passage of legislation establishing federal authority over the CNMI’s immigration system and boosting the local minimum wage. The corruption scandal involving him rocked Capitol Hill and damaged the CNMI’s reputation.

Key observers on Saipan attributed the pending federal takeover of the CNMI’s immigration rules—which may soon be the subject of a lawsuit filed by Gov. Benigno Fitial’s administration—to the lasting impact of Abramoff’s work.

“I believe the decision to file the federalization lawsuit has some relation to our inability to negotiate with key people in Washington,” said Rep. Diego Benavente (R-Saipan), chairman of the House Foreign Relations Committee. “Some federal officials until now won’t have anything to do with the CNMI because of what transpired with Abramoff.”

Former Saipan Chamber of Commerce president Juan Guerrero echoed those statements, saying federal lawmakers’ reaction to the Abramoff scandal cost the CNMI allies in the nation’s capitol.

“He was paid to do a job and I think he was effective but the way he did it comes back to reflect on us,” he said. “I hope the U.S. Congress will now let this issue rest in peace.”

Labor activist Wendy Doromal in her web blog admitted to having mixed feelings about Abramoff’s sentencing. Doromal condemned the “irreversible damage” which, she said, resulted from Abramoff’s lobbying work on behalf of the Commonwealth. Still, she expressed personal sympathy for him.

The lobbying deal between Abramoff and the CNMI government, Doromal said, “perpetuated the suffering of hundreds of foreign contract workers by preventing the passage of federalization laws that could have spared them the indignity and injustice of being victims of illegal recruiters, being cheated, scammed, and otherwise abused.”

But, she added, “I believe Jack Abramoff is sincerely sorry for his crimes and takes responsibility for what he has done. I know this because I wrote to him last year, and he replied to me last summer after the death of his mother. I believe that his two-page typed letter to me was sincere.”

However, Abramoff’s sentencing was for a shorter term than some wanted to see. Irene Tantiado, former president of United Coalition of Workers, said Abramoff should spend more time in prison.

“We’re happy that he was put jail but four years is not enough for what he has done to the guest workers here,” Tantiado said.

Meanwhile, Charles Reyes, the governor’s spokesman, expressed hope that Abramoff’s sentencing will signal the end of the “guilt by association” the CNMI has seen in the wake of the corruption scandal.

“A lot of federal policymakers in Congress have reacted negatively toward the CNMI because of Abramoff,” he said. “We hope that negative association will be put to an end.”

As a lobbyist, Abramoff and his colleagues lavished campaign donations, tickets to sporting events and concerts, and vacations on public officials to secure influence with them. His restaurant, Signatures, also lost thousands in free or discounted meals and drinks given to Washington, DC, powerbrokers.

Public officials in return helped Abramoff’s clients win millions in federal grants and funding. They also slipped him internal government information and altered legislation to favor his clients. [B][I](With Agnes E. Donato and The Associated Press)[/I][/B]