With the State of the Union done and Congress back in session, we’ll be hearing new dates and schedules for the legislative year ahead.

But, come on: The real action this political cycle is going to be in the courthouse.

So I thought it would be interesting to go through the list of all the alleged malefactors federal prosecutors have so far accused of wrongdoing (though not necessarily indicted) in the various congressional bribery and corruption scandals. I came up with 21 people — four members of Congress (Tom DeLay (R-Texas), William Jefferson (D-La.), Bob Ney (R-Ohio) and Randy “Duke” Cunningham (R-Calif.), who pleaded guilty to taking bribes and resigned last year), three alleged mafia hit men, two defense contractors and the rest mainly former aides and lobbyists.

Here are some of the highlights and some dates you might want to put down on your calendar.

If you’re in Florida on March 16, stop by the courthouse to see Jack Abramoff get sentenced for his role in the SunCruz casino fraud. His partner in crime Adam Kidan gets sentenced two weeks earlier.

If you’re already in Florida for the Abramoff sentencing, definitely stick around for March 23. That’s when James “Pudgy” Fiorillo, Anthony “Little Tony” Ferrari and Anthony “Big Tony” Moscatiello go on trial for the 2001 murder of South Florida casino-boat king Gus Boulis.

Usually the details of political trials are … let’s admit it, a bit picayune and, well … boring. Did former Ways and Means Committee Chairman Dan Rostenkowski steal stamps? Did DeLay’s web of political money conduits move corporate money to the national Republican Party and then back to Texas to evade Texas campaign-finance laws? Sounds interesting to me, but it’s not exactly the sort of stuff you’d build a “Law and Order” episode around.

This trial will be a bit more colorful.

Back in the glory days, Abramoff and Kidan bought the SunCruz casino line from company founder Boulis. It was never a very amicable arrangement. Abramoff partner Michael Scanlon had to enlist Ney to help Abramoff and Kidan force Boulis to cough up the company — a favor that may land Ney in prison.

Anyway, from those auspicious beginnings, things went downhill pretty quickly. And just when the threats and counterthreats between Boulis and Kidan were spiraling out of control, Boulis got rubbed out in a gangland-style ambush.

Last September, Fiorillo, Ferrari and Moscatiello — each known mafia soldiers — were indicted for the murder. And in an odd coincidence, at the time of the murder Ferrari and Moscatiello had both recently been hired by Kidan and Abramoff’s company, SunCruz, for work they apparently never did. Moscatiello, a former Gambino family bookkeeper, was paid $145,000 for “catering services.” Ferrari was paid $95,000 for “surveillance.”

Catch the trial in late March and see if any more weird coincidences crop up.

The next trial doesn’t promise the same fireworks or gunfire. But it’s a little closer to home. On April 3, former Office of Management and Budget (OMB) procurement chief David Safavian goes on trial.

Safavian worked on the Hill. He worked for Abramoff. And he even set up his own lobbying shop with Grover Norquist. But he really started climbing the D.C. power ladder when President Bush came to town. He was on the Bush Interior Department’s transition team. Then he worked at the General Services Administration (GSA) before rising to be the top procurement officer at the OMB.

Everything was going great for Safavian until he was arrested at his home last October and charged with making false statements and obstruction in a GSA investigation into Abramoff.

By all indications, federal prosecutors are trying to flip Safavian and get him to testify against other accomplices. But for the moment Safavian seems to be hanging tough and refusing to deal.

From mid-April, the definite dates on the calendar start to diminish. But that’s largely because there are so many D.C. power players whom federal prosecutors have accused of crimes but not yet indicted.

One example is our old friend Ney. In their plea agreements with Abramoff and Scanlon, federal prosecutors accuse Ney or taking bribes from both men. Presumably that’s going to lead to an indictment and trial, but when is anyone’s guess.

Ney’s former staffer Neil Volz was also named as a conspirator in Abramoff’s plea. And the same goes for DeLay’s former staffer Tony Rudy. Presumably indictments and trials are on the way for those guys too.

It seems certain to be a busy year on the Hill. But if the indictments and trial dates peter out, there’s always passing new laws.

Marshall is editor of talkingpointsmemo.com. His column appears in The Hill each week. E-mail: This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it