A jury was told Tuesday there were no legal limits on the dollar value of tickets and meals that lobbyists working with influence peddler Jack Abramoff could give to public officials.
The question came up as jurors spent a sixth day deliberating the fate of ex-lobbyist Kevin Ring.
Ring is accused of providing thousands of dollars worth of drinks, meals and tickets to sporting events and concerts to the offices of two congressmen and to Justice Department officials over a four-year span in return for appropriations and assistance for clients of the now-imprisoned Abramoff.
The jurors' inquiry to U.S. District Judge Ellen Segal Huvelle indicates the panel of five men and seven women may be having difficulty reaching a verdict. The case is part of a long-running criminal probe that led to guilty pleas by 17 people including Abramoff and ex-Rep. Bob Ney, R-Ohio. Ney served a prison term. The Bush administration's former top procurement official, David Safavian, faces sentencing in the scandal Friday.
The charges against Ring are conspiracy, paying illegal gratuities and six counts of scheming to deprive taxpayers of the honest services of employees in the legislative and executive branches of government from 2000 to 2004.
The Supreme Court is reviewing three challenges to the "honest services" anti-fraud law, a favorite tool of federal prosecutors in white-collar crime and public corruption cases. The latest challenge came Tuesday when justices agreed to consider the case of former Enron Chief Executive Officer Jeff Skilling for his role in the collapse of the one-time energy giant.
In the Ring case, defense lawyers argued that public officials can be charged under the law, but not someone in the private sector.
Copyright 2009 AP News
