From NBC News:
The FBI today arrested Kevin Ring, a former lobbyist, for his alleged role in the Jack Abramoff lobbying scandal, NBC News has learned. Justice Department officials said that the FBI arrested Ring this morning at his Maryland home. He is charged in a 10-count public-corruption indictment, the officials said. Ring is a former congressional staffer for Rep. John Doolittle (R-Ca.)
As common with all things Abramoff, Ring did quite a bit of work with Native American tribal governments operating casinos.
The indictment alleges that Ring and his coconspirators engaged in this conduct with the former chief of staff for a U.S. Representative identified as Representative 4; employees of a current U.S. Representative, identified as Representative 5; former U.S. Representative Robert Ney and his employees; officials at the Department of Justice and the Department of Interior, and other congressional offices and executive branch entities.
It's only a matter of time, one would hope, before we know the identities of the numbered crooks above.
In convicted on all charges, Ring faces a potential prison sentence of - get this - 145 years. The 20-years-per on six counts of wire fraud make up the bulk of this potential time on ice.
For some reason, it seems that the "Culture of Corruption" theme - so instrumental in the retaking of both houses of Congress two years ago, has slipped into the background. Granted, it's difficult to know what effect (if any) the multitudinous instances of GOP Congressional corruption might have on the presidential race, but it can't possibly hurt.
And with all of the other hyper-critical reasons to retake the White House this year, regaining control of the Justice Department - and
perhaps accelerating the investigation of these crimes - remains yet another.
The piece linked to above concludes with a brief recap of the scandal(s), notably referencing the guilty pleas of former lobbyist (and communications director for Tom Delay) Michael Scanlon and disgraced Ohio Congressman Bob Ney..
We're going to be busy for years locking these bastards up.
UPDATE: A PDF of the indictment can be found here (Part 1) and here (Part 2). H/T Letter of apology.