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Federici pleads guilty, will assist in Abramoff probe |
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By Mike Soraghan
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Posted: 06/08/07 11:49 AM [ET] |
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Republican activist and former Department of the Interior aide Italia Federici on Friday pleaded guilty to tax evasion and lying to Congress and agreed to cooperate in the ongoing Jack Abramoff investigation. She is expected to face a prison term of 10 to 16 months at her Nov. 16 sentencing hearing. Federici is the second person with ties to Norton to plead guilty in the Abramoff investigation. Former Deputy Interior Secretary J. Steven Griles pleaded guilty to lying to Congress about his relationship to Abramoff and Federici. He is to be sentenced later this month. The Interior Department regulates Indian casinos, including determining which tribes can start new ones. Abramoff was paid millions of dollars by tribes that had casinos to block nearby tribes from getting their own. Federici is the president of the Council of Republicans for Environmental Advocacy (CREA), which evolved from a group Federici and Norton founded in 1997 with tax activist Grover Norquist to push for Republican environmental goals. |
