Ex-Interior official pleads guilty for obstruction of justice
Under agreement, prosecutors will propose a maximum 10-month sentence for former No. 2 official at the department.
Former Deputy Interior Secretary J. Steven Griles pleaded guilty on Friday to obstruction of justice in a Senate committee's investigation, becoming the highest-ranking Bush administration official convicted in the Jack Abramoff corruption scandal, the Associated Press reported.
The former No. 2 official in the Interior Department admitted in federal court that he lied to the Senate about his relationship with convicted lobbyist Abramoff, who repeatedly sought Griles' intervention at the agency on behalf of Abramoff's Indian tribal clients. Griles pleaded guilty to a felony charge for testifying falsely before the Senate Indian Affairs Committee on Nov. 2, 2005, and during an earlier deposition with the panel's investigators on Oct. 20, 2005.
Under the plea agreement, federal prosecutors agreed to propose no more than a 10-month prison sentence for Griles -- the minimum they could ask for under sentencing guidelines -- that would allow him to serve half that time in prison and half either in a halfway house or under house arrest. Sentencing is set for June 26.