Ney to plead guilty Friday

Malia Rulon reports:



WASHINGTON – Rep. Bob Ney is expected to tell a federal judge Friday that he accepted thousands of dollars in free meals, sporting tickets, casino chips, and travel, including a lavish golfing trip to Scotland, from lobbyists in exchange for official favors.

He also could resign his congressional seat on Friday.

The six-term sitting congressman is scheduled to appear before Judge Ellen Segal Huvelle in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia at 10 a.m. on Friday the 13th to officially enter his guilty plea on two criminal charges.

The plea comes after years of the Heath Republican insisting he did nothing illegal or improper. It also comes on the heels of Republican Rep. Mark Foley of Florida resigning for sending improper Internet messages to congressional pages, another scandal that has rocked Republicans in the weeks leading to the Nov. 7 election.

Friday will be Ney’s first public appearance since he agreed in court papers Sept. 15 to plead guilty to charges in the government’s widening congressional corruption probe and checked himself into a facility to receive treatment for alcohol abuse.

He faces up to 10 years in prison and $500,000 in fines.

Unlike Foley, however, Ney, who dropped his re-election bid in August, has not resigned his House seat. Several Republicans – including Joy Padgett of Coshocton, who is running to replace Ney in Congress – have called on him to step down. Democrat Zack Space of Dover, who is running against Padgett for the seat, also has called for Ney to resign.

Ney, who has said he “made serious mistakes,” stepped down from his chairmanship of the House Administration Committee and Financial Services’ Subcommittee on Housing and Community Opportunity, although his name and picture remain on the latter Web site.
House Speaker Dennis Hastert, R-Ill., has declined to call for Ney to step down but has promised a “quick solution” to the issue. It’s expected that like former Rep. Randy “Duke” Cunningham, R-Calif., who resigned the day he plead guilty to corruption charges, Ney too would resign on Friday.

Under House rules, a member convicted of a felony is not required to resign, although the House ethics committee could hold hearings to determine whether to expel the lawmaker, as it did in the case of former Rep. Jim Traficant, R-Ohio. Traficant, the second member expelled from Congress since the Civil War, was convicted of 10 counts of bribery, racketeering and tax evasion.

House Majority Leader John Boehner, R-Ohio, told reporters during a news conference last month that Ney had not been asked to immediately resign because it’s possible that he could change his mind about pleading guilty or details of the plea agreement could change.
“A lot of things are going to happen between now and then and I would prefer to allow this decision to be his. Until he has his day in court, I don’t think it’s up to me to comment on what he should do or shouldn’t do,” Boehner said.

Sally Collins, a spokeswoman for the House Administration Committee, said that means Ney was paid, as usual, on Oct. 1. Members of Congress make $165,200 a year, or about $450 a day.
Ney’s last vote was Sept. 12 in support of a memorial at the World Trade Center site in New York City. House rules say anyone who pleads guilty to a crime requiring a sentence of two or more years in prison “should” refrain from voting.

Ney, 52, also will be eligible in 10 years to collect his pension as lawmakers can only lose that benefit if they are convicted of treason, she said.

Pete Sepp, communications director for the National Taxpayers Union, said he estimates that if Ney retires in 10 years, he’ll be eligible to collect about $30,000 a year. If he takes an early retirement in four years, he could collect about $20,000 a year.

According to papers filed last month, Ney accepted $170,000 in travel from lobbyists and $50,000 in gambling chips from a foreign businessman. In exchange, he contacted officials, made statements on the House floor and attempted to pass legislation. He then filed false reports with U.S. Customs and the U.S. House to cover it all up.

Phone calls to Ney’s lawyer, Mark H. Tuohey, and Ney’s congressional office weren’t returned. In fact, it was Ney’s own voice on a recorded greeting that thanked midday callers for contacting the “office of the people of the 18th District of Ohio.”