Safavian goes down
After a tearful plea for leniency, David Safavian, former chief of staff for the General Services Administration, was sentenced to 18 months in prison for lying about his relations with Jack Abramoff.
He was convicted on four counts of lying and obstructing justice including his attendance at the infamous 2002 golf trip to Scotland. He accepted that trip and other gifts in exchange for using his government position to unfairly advantage Abramoff in acquiring federally-controlled properties.
Safavian marks the eighth conviction related to Abramoff’s lobbying scandals, and was the only one to go to trial instead of pleading guilty.