A top aide to former Rep. Bob Ney (R-Ohio) avoided jail time largely due to his early cooperation with the Justice Department, a D.C. District Court judge said Thursday.
William Heaton, former chief of staff to then-Rep. Bob Ney (R-Ohio), was sentenced to two years probation, community service and a $5,000 fine. Judge Ellen Huvelle attributed the leniency to the amount of cooperation that Heaton provided the government with during their investigation of Ney, including wearing a wire to work. “You have done more than most,” she said. Heaton apologized to his wife Katie, his family and to his former colleagues and said he hoped that his mistakes would serve as a cautionary tale to young staffers. When asked by Huvelle what advice he would give to Hill staff that may one day be faced with a similar ethical dilemma, Heaton responded, “to be wary of the fact that they may have to confront authority.” Heaton’s lawyer, John N. Nassikas III, read letters from Heaton’s supporters including the current House Chaplain Daniel P. Coughlin, said Heaton was “caught in a web of evil around him.” Ted Van Der Meid, former top aide for Speaker Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.) wrote a letter on Heaton’s behalf and suggested he be incorporated into the now mandatory ethics training for congressional staff. “The truth has set Will Heaton free,” he said.
In February, Heaton pled guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit fraud and could have been subject a maximum penalty of five years in prison and a fine of $250,000. Heaton is the second member of Ney’s staff to be ensnared in the scandal involving imprisoned lobbyist Jack Abramoff, who bribed Ney and his staff with lavish trips and gifts in return for official favors. Heaton’s predecessor, Neil Volz, was sentenced last year for conspiracy charges. Heaton began working for Ney in September 2001 as an executive assistant and quickly rose to the position of chief of staff according to court documents, replacing co-conspirator Volz, who left Ney’s office in September 2002 to work for Abramoff. Over the two years Heaton served as Ney’s chief of staff, spanning from August 2002 to August 2004, he accepted numerous favors from Abramoff and other members of Abramoff’s lobbying firm, including a number of trips abroad, concert and sporting-event tickets, meals and casino gambling chips, all taken with full knowledge that the gifts were being given in exchange for official favors from Ney. During one of those trips, Heaton and another staffer helped Ney conceal $5,000 brought into the country through customs and stored the money in a safe inside Ney’s congressional office. Court documents said Heaton “open[ed] the safe as requested so that Ney could make repeated withdrawals.” Heaton knowingly falsified his and Ney’s 2002 and 2003 financial disclosure forms and assisted Ney in misrepresenting his travel disclosure form about the receipt of gifts from Abramoff and others. Ney is currently serving a 30-month sentence in a Morgantown, West Virginia federal prison for executing official acts in exchange for lavish gifts and cash. |
