After years of using expensive gifts, campaign donations and exotic trips to win access to the White House and Congress, Jack Abramoff's illegal dealings won him an open door from a final government agency yesterday the US Bureau of Prisons.

Abramoff, once the most celebrated lobbyist in Washington, was last night begining a nearly six-year sentence for a fraudulent deal to buy a fleet of casino ships in Florida. He is also awaiting sentencing for corrupting government officials and their staff.

In the United States, a lobbyist is a person hired to gain influence with powerful people in order to help his client's interests. Inducements they can offer are limited by law.

Abramoff, who made a name for himself around Congress by lavishing politicians with tickets to athletic events or whisking them off on faraway golfing junkets, became the face of government corruption and contributed to the Republican party's Election Day defeats nationwide.

If it were up to the Justice Department, however, Abramoff would not be in prison, at least not yet. Investigators believe he holds the key to a sweeping corruption case involving Congress, members of the Bush administration and their aides, and prosecutors. They say putting their star witness behind bars could impede the investigation.

A federal judge in Miami, Florida, however refused to delay the sentence, meaning Abramoff's co-operation will have to continue from prison, where he will be inmate No. 27593-112. Abramoff's lawyers had no comment.

Abramoff was originally assigned to a federal prison in Pennsylvania, about 4 hours from Washington. But prosecutors wanted him assigned to a prison in Cumberland, Maryland, only 2 hours away.

The Justice Department said the issue has been resolved and, although the Bureau of Prisons would not comment about where Abramoff is being held, prison officials spent yesterday afternoon preparing for a crush of reporters outside Maryland's Cumberland prison.

Abramoff enjoyed access and influence across Capitol Hill, from his close ties to congressmen to his hundreds of contacts with White House officials. He kept his powerful friends flush with campaign cash, gifts and trips such as a US$92,000 (71,700 euros) chartered jet to Scotland for a golf outing with congressman Bob Ney, Bush administration official David Safavian and congressional aides.

Ney, a Republican who recently resigned, became the first congressman convicted in the case when he admitted last month that he took official actions on behalf of Abramoff's clients in exchange for gifts and campaign donations.

The investigation had already ensnared Ney's former chief of staff and two aides to former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay. The investigation cost DeLay his leadership seat before he ultimately resigned, and it contributed to the Election Day defeat of Republican Senator Conrad Burns.

Safavian was sentenced in October to 18 months in prison for lying to investigators about his ties to Abramoff. He is asking a federal judge to postpone his sentence until he can appeal his conviction.

(China Daily 11/16/2006 page7)