Officials declined to discuss any additional charges, but documents released Tuesday indicated prosecutors were focusing on benefits provided by Abramoff and his colleagues to members of Congress, their relatives, and current and former congressional staffers and their relatives.
"The corruption scheme with Mr. Abramoff is very extensive, and we will continue to follow it wherever it leads," said Assistant Atty. Gen. Alice Fisher, head of the Justice Department's criminal division. "This case is very active and ongoing. We are going to expend the resources that are necessary to make sure that people know that government is not for sale."
"This is just the beginning," predicted Stanley Brand, a Washington lawyer and former general counsel to the House of Representatives. "That is the pattern of the Justice Department. They start with the lobbyists and the outsiders and they build into the public officials. The members of Congress are the highest point in the food chain."
The scandal is "about an 8 on the Richter scale, and it is probably going to be a 9 before it is all over," Brand said.
Abramoff has also agreed to plead guilty today to conspiracy and wire fraud charges in Florida relating to the purchase of a fleet of gambling boats, according to Neal Sonnett, his lawyer in that case. The sentences in the two cases are expected to be served concurrently.
Tuesday's plea agreement mirrors charges brought earlier against one of Abramoff's former partners, Michael P.S. Scanlon. Scanlon has entered a guilty plea and has promised to cooperate with investigators.
According to court documents, Abramoff and Scanlon hid millions of dollars in fees by persuading Indian tribal clients with casino interests to pay consulting fees to companies and a nonprofit corporation Abramoff had set up. The two then shared the excess profits "pursuant to their secret agreement."
Abramoff, the documents charge, knew that the same services could have been provided by others at a far lower cost. But Abramoff, the government said, lied to the tribes, telling them he was working for nothing and, in some cases, denying any connection to the companies receiving the payments.
Abramoff and Scanlon called their scheme "Gimme Five," and in one case simultaneously collected fees from two Indian tribes on opposite sides of the same issue, said prosecutor Fisher.
