Ex-colleague of disgraced lobbyist faces charges

By James Vicini

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A former Republican congressional aide who worked with disgraced U.S. lobbyist Jack Abramoff was arrested on Monday on charges of public corruption and obstructing justice, the Justice Department said.

It said Kevin Ring, 37, a former lobbyist who worked with Abramoff, was charged with 10 counts that accuse him of conspiring to corrupt congressional and Bush administration officials by giving them items of value for official action to benefit his clients.

Among those listed as conspirators were convicted former U.S. Rep. Bob Ney, an Ohio Republican, employees of two other unidentified congressional representatives and unidentified officials of the U.S. Departments of Justice and Interior.

The items included all-expenses-paid domestic and international travel, fundraising assistance, meals, drinks, golf, tickets to professional sporting events, concerts and other events, and employment opportunities to spouses of congressional members and staff, an indictment said.

On Capitol Hill, Ring worked as an aide to Republican Rep. John Doolittle of California from 1993 to 1998. In 1998, he worked for a Senate Judiciary subcommittee and in 1999 was executive director of a Republican caucus in the U.S. House of Representatives before joining Abramoff as a lobbyist.

Abramoff was sentenced last week to serve four years in prison in a corruption scandal that rocked Washington's power elite and helped Republicans lose control of Congress in 2006. He already is serving a nearly six-year term on unrelated charges.

Abramoff was sentenced as part of a plea deal with Justice Department prosecutors in which he cooperated with investigators who pursued corruption cases against lawmakers, former Bush administration officials and others, such as Ring.

Department officials said their investigation was continuing and that others could be charged.

According to the indictment, Ring as a lobbyist solicited and obtained business throughout the United States, including with Native American tribal governments operating and interested in operating gambling casinos.

The indictment charges that Ring made a number of false statements to obstruct grand jury and congressional investigations, lying about his knowledge of Abramoff's financial relationship with lobbyist Michael Scanlon, his own receipt of a $135,000 kickback and his knowledge of how Abramoff obtained a job for the wife of a congressman.

(Editing by Randall Mikkelsen and David Wiessler)