Disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff was supposed to report to prison this coming Monday for 70 months of incarceration after being sentenced for pleading guilty in January to defrauding lenders in the SunCruz casino scandal.
Now he has until November 15th to report to federal prison - so he can continue cooperating with federal authorities in an ongoing corruption investigation. Abramoff also pleaded in January to charges in the pay-to-play, Washington influence peddling investigation - but he has yet to be sentenced on those charges.
Prosecutors and Abramoff's lawyer, Abbe Lowell, in a joint motion, asked a federal judge to delay Abramoff's prison term for three-months saying reporting to jail earlier, "would significantly impede on-going investigations in which his participation is critical."
Expect no further delays
A federal judge in Miami postponed for a third time the date Abramoff must begin serving his prison sentence. U.S. District Judge Paul Huck expressed exasperation with the slow pace of the Washington investigation and advised attorneys not to expect any further extensions.
Huck also gave Abramoff's business partner in the failed SunCruz casino gambling operation, Adam Kidan until Oct. 23 to turn himself in. Kidan also faces 70 months in prison.
Kidan is cooperating in the murder investigation of the former owner of SunCruz, Constantino "Gus" Boulis,"
Boulis was gunned down at the wheel of his BMW as he drove away from his Fort Lauderdale office in February 2001. Three men -- including one who was a former FBI informant with ties to the Mafia -- have been charged in his slaying.
The shooting happened amid a bitter dispute over SunCruz, which Boulis sold in September 2000 for $147.5 million to Abramoff and Kidan.
Abramoff was scheduled to appear in a Washington courtroom in December for a status hearing.