Ex-DeLay aide pleads guilty, will aid probe

WASHINGTON – A former top aide to Rep. Tom DeLay, R-Texas, pleaded guilty to conspiracy Friday and promised to aid a wide-ranging federal investigation into corrupt lobbying practices.

Tony Rudy, who served as deputy chief of staff to DeLay, the former House majority leader, before joining the lobbying team of Jack Abramoff, entered the plea in U.S. District Court in Washington as part of a deal in which prosecutors agreed not to pursue other possible charges against him or his wife, who had received payments arranged by Abramoff. Rudy was charged with conspiracy to corrupt public officials and defraud clients, as well as violating a one-year lobbying ban for former government employees, according to a criminal information filed Friday.

The guilty plea and agreement to cooperate brought the probe closer to DeLay, who stepped down as majority leader last year when he was indicted in a separate case in Texas involving the alleged laundering of political contributions to state legislative candidates.

However, there were no allegations against DeLay in documents released Friday as part of Rudy’s plea agreement. DeLay’s legal team was relieved that the filings did not directly implicate the 10-term congressman.

Rudy faces up to five years in prison on the single felony count, but the sentence could be reduced considerably if he cooperates with prosecutors, the judge said in court.

According to papers filed Friday, Rudy will provide key corroborating information regarding the case prosecutors are building against Rep. Robert Ney, R-Ohio, who was taken by Abramoff on a lavish trip to Scotland in 2002. Rudy admitted to prosecutors that he offered Ney the junket, telling Ney’s chief of staff by e-mail on May 24, 2002, that the trip would involve golf, “drinking and smoking cubans.”

Prosecutors charged that from 1997 through 2004, Rudy conspired with Abramoff and others to accept and offer bribes, among other offenses.

Rudy, 39, entered his plea two days after Abramoff was sentenced in Miami to five years 10 months in prison for his role in the fraudulent purchase of a fleet of casino cruise ships. In another case, Abramoff pleaded guilty in January to federal charges of fraud, tax evasion and conspiracy to bribe public officials.