'Freedom fries' up for sale

Ex-US congressman jailed for graft

Ney pleaded guilt to having accepted gifts and money in return for official favours [AFP]

Bob Ney, a former Republican congressman, has been sentenced to two and a half years in prison, the US department of justice has said.Ney, who was sentenced on Friday, pleaded guilty to having solicited and accepted gifts and money from Jack Abramoff, a political lobbyist, and his associates in return for official favours.

Alice Fisher, the assistant attorney general, in a statement said: "Today's sentence makes it clear that our government is not for sale".

Judge Ellen Segal Huvelle of the US district court for Washington DC also imposed a fine of $6000 and ordered Ney to serve two years of supervised release following his 30 months imprisonment.

Ney had faced a maximum of 10 years in prison, but his sentence was reduced as part of a plea bargain in which he agreed to cooperate with a wider investigation into Abramoff and official corruption.

He admitted to opposing legislation and inserted statements into the legislature's official record at Abramoff's request, in return for thousands of dollars in campaign contributions.

In court he said he was fighting "the demons of addiction that are within me".

He abandoned his re-election campaign in August because of questions over his links to Abramoff.

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