MIAMI — A former business associate of Washington lobbyist Jack Abramoff pleaded guilty Thursday to fraud and conspiracy charges related to a deal to buy a fleet of Florida-based gambling boats, the latest twist in a federal inquiry that has reached to Congress.
Adam R. Kidan, who had entered a plea of not guilty after he was indicted in August, said he and his onetime partner defrauded lenders of $60 million five years ago by faking a $23-million wire transfer to get financing to buy the SunCruz Casinos fleet. Abramoff pleaded not guilty in August to a six-count federal fraud and conspiracy indictment stemming from his role in the purchase.
"Did you intentionally do what the government says you did in this case?" U.S. District Judge Paul C. Huck asked Kidan, 41, on Thursday.
"Yes, your honor," Kidan said. When asked what revised plea he wanted to enter, the New Yorker said, "guilty, your honor."
Kidan could receive as much as five years in prison and a $250,000 fine on each of the two counts. Under the plea agreement, other federal charges against Kidan were to be dropped. He is to be sentenced in March.
Assistant U.S. Atty. Lawrence D. LaVecchio told Huck that under the deal, Kidan had pledged to cooperate with authorities in their investigations.
Outside the federal courthouse, Kidan's lawyer said his client was ready to take the witness stand at Abramoff's trial in the SunCruz case, scheduled to begin early next year. "If the government intends to call him," said Joseph Conway, "he's prepared to testify."
Conway said Kidan also would cooperate with Florida prosecutors in their investigation into the murder of Konstantinos "Gus" Boulis, the former owner of SunCruz Casinos who sold the line to Kidan and Abramoff in a $147.5-million deal. Five months after the sale, on Feb. 6, 2001, Boulis was shot dead in his BMW sedan in a mob-style hit in Fort Lauderdale.
Standing next to his attorney outside the courthouse, Kidan said nothing. Kidan's left arm was in a sling -- the result, his attorney said, of a fall on the ice a week ago that caused a shoulder fracture.
Contacted after the hearing, Neil Sonnett, Abramoff's attorney, said it would be inappropriate for him to comment on Kidan's changed plea and deal with federal prosecutors. Kidan's cooperation with authorities could increase the pressure on Abramoff to do the same, but his lawyer gave no sign of that.
