Ex-GOP lobbyist Abramoff sentenced to 4 years in prison

Clad in khaki pants and a faded brown T-shirt, Abramoff remained stoic through much of Thursday's hearing, seated facing Huvelle with his hands folded in his lap. He wiped away a tear while a member of an Indian tribe he once represented asked the judge to impose a lesser sentence because of the millions of dollars in federal aid Abramoff had brought the tribe.

Others, however, urged Huvelle to throw the book at the defendant.

"His actions have caused a dark stain not only on the tribes that hired him but on Indian country as a whole," said Brian Sprague, a former member of the governing council of the Saginaw Chippewa tribe in Michigan, a former Abramoff client.

"Thank you, Jack," Sprague said facetiously, turning from the lectern to address Abramoff directly.

Although acknowledging the seriousness of his client's crimes, Abramoff's lawyer, Abbe Lowell, told Huvelle that some offenses attributed to Abramoff had been exaggerated, and that some clients were overlooking the benefits of the access Abramoff brought them.

"This is a case where the myth of Jack Abramoff can overtake the actual man," Lowell said. "Jack is here to make an accounting for his actions -- those that were wrong and those that were not."

Abramoff has already served 21 months of a 70-month sentence for mail and wire fraud in a separate case involving the purchase of a casino-boat business in Florida. The Justice Department has asked the judge in that case to reduce that sentence as well because of help Abramoff provided prosecutors.

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rick.schmitt@latimes.com