Abramoff ex-partner pleads guilty to fraud charge - Yahoo! News

Abramoff ex-partner pleads guilty to fraud charge - Yahoo! News:

"A New York businessman charged with fraud alongside prominent Washington lobbyist Jack Abramoff in the purchase of a Florida casino cruise line pleaded guilty on Thursday to fraud and conspiracy charges.

The case against Abramoff and former business partner Adam Kidan has gained wide attention in Washington because Abramoff, a Republican fund-raiser, has close ties to former House Majority Leader
Tom DeLay of Texas and is a central figure in influence-buying investigations.

Kidan, 41, entered the guilty plea in a Miami federal court to one count of conspiracy and one of wire fraud, each of which carries a possible sentence of five years in prison. U.S. District Judge Paul Huck accepted the plea and set sentencing for March 1.

Outside the courthouse after the hearing, Kidan's lawyer, Joseph Conway, said his client conspired with Abramoff in the fraud and was willing to testify in Abramoff's trial next month.

'If the government is prepared to call him as a witness, he is prepared to testify,' Conway said. He did not allow Kidan to talk to reporters.

"