Italia Federici

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Italia E. Federici (born August 12, 1969), the former president of the Council of Republicans for Environmental Advocacy (CREA). Federici was also a political aide to Secretary of the Interior and CREA founder Gale Norton.[1] She pleaded guilty in June 2007 to tax evasion and obstructing the United States Senate investigation into the Jack Abramoff Indian lobbying scandal and was sentenced to 60 days in a halfway house and four years probation.[2] [3] [4]

Contents

[edit] Council of Republicans for Environmental Advocacy

Federici founded CREA with Norton and Americans for Tax Reform president Grover Norquist, a college friend of Abramoff, in 1997 with money Federici inherited; the organization's name was changed to CREA in 1998.[5] The organization was also funded by, and supported the goals of, mining and other industries.

[edit] Abramoff involvement

Federici introduced Jack Abramoff to Deputy Secretary of the Interior J. Steven Griles in March 2001, just before Griles started at the Department of the Interior.[5] Abramoff donated more than $400,000 to her charity, after which time she began using her connections with Griles to influence him to make decisions beneficial to Abramoff's tribal benefactors.[6]

In emails, Abramoff claimed that "she is critical"[7] to his work with the Department of Interior, especially with regards to preventing the Jena Band of Choctaws Indian Tribe from creating a casino, that would take money away from one of Abramoff's "core tribes". A February 18, 2003 email from Abramoff to Federici said "...This will be a PR disaster as you can imagine, especially if for some reason Interior agrees to approve this deal. McCrery and Vitter (the other R's in the delegation) are furious beyond belief. This is going to get really ugly. Please let Steve know about this. Thanks so much Italia!"[8]. The email referred to Griles, who is reported to have been romantically connected to Federici.[9]

Federici also pleaded guilty to tax evasion for using CREA as a source of personal funds; Furthermore, she did not pay income tax from 2001 through 2003.[3]

In December 2007, Federici was sentenced to two months in a halfway house, four years probation, and $77,243 in restitution of back taxes. U.S. District Court Judge Ellen S. Huvelle rejected the prosecution recommendation of house arrest, insisting that Federici serve some time. She sentenced Federici colleague Jared Carpenter to 45 days in a halfway house and four years probation.[4]

[edit] External links

[edit] References

  1. ^ Michael Scherer. "The greening of Italia Federici", Salon, November 18, 2005. 
  2. ^ Matt Apuzzo. "New Charges Filed in Abramoff Probe", Associated Press, June 6, 2007. 
  3. ^ a b Mark Heilprin. "GOP fundraiser pleads guilty in probe", Associated Press, June 8, 2007. 
  4. ^ a b Susan Schmidt. "Republican With Links to Abramoff Is Sentenced", Washington Post, December 15, 2007. 
  5. ^ a b Mike Soraghan. "Norton aide cops a plea", The Hill, June 7, 2007. 
  6. ^ "Senate Indian Affairs Hearings, testimony by Italia Federici (video)", Senate Indian Affairs Committee, November 17, 2005. 
  7. ^ Susan Schmidt. "Abramoff Witness Frustrates Panel: E-Mails Suggest She Was Lobbyist's Connection to Interior Official", Washington Post, November 18, 2005, p. A08. 
  8. ^ Susan Schmidt. "Casino Bid Prompted High-Stakes Lobbying", Washington Post, March 13, 2005. 
  9. ^ Edmund L. Andrews. "Ex-Deputy of Interior Dept. Pleads Guilty", New York Times, March 23, 2007.