William Heaton

Last updated

William Heaton (born 1978) is the former chief of staff for former Rep. Bob Ney (R-Ohio), and a supporting figure in the Abramoff scandal.

Contents

Education

Heaton grew up in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. He attended Bishop McGuiness Memorial Catholic High School where he was elected student council president. Heaton was also active in sports while at Bishop McGuinness, participating on the junior varsity basketball team and the varsity cross country team. Heaton spent his junior year of high school in Washington, DC where he participated in the congressional page program. He won the student council presidency election even though he was in Washington, DC.

After high school, Heaton attended the College of William and Mary. After graduating, he worked as a floor assistant to then-Speaker Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.). As late as February 2007, Heaton was listed on the College's website as one of 12 "Distinguished Alumni". [1]

Career

Heaton worked as Ney's executive assistant on the House Administration Committee, and he succeeded Neil Volz as Ney's chief of staff in 2002. At the age of 23, he was the youngest chief of staff on Capitol Hill. He left in July 2006 and was named as "Staffer C" in Ney's plea deal of September 15, 2006. [2] [3] [4] He is currently employed as Director of Board Relations and Assistant to the CEO at the Council on Foundations. Was formerly Director of Communications at Washington Theological Union in Washington, DC. [5]

Abramoff scandal

Heaton pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit fraud [6] admitting to conspiring with Ney, Jack Abramoff and others to accept vacations, meals, tickets, and contributions to Ney's campaign in exchange for Ney benefitting Abramoff's clients, none of whom lived in Ohio. [7]

Pleaded GuiltySentencedSentenceStarted ServingCurrent Location
February 26, 2007August 16, 200724 months probation, 100 hours community service, $5000 fineN/A

Trips with Ney

The picture at left is from the much publicized trip to St. Andrews, the famed Scottish golf course. This trip was paid for by Abramoff at a cost of $160,000. Heaton admitted "falsifying his and Ney's financial disclosure forms in 2002 and 2003 to keep gifts secret. For example, Ney's forms said the Scotland trip was paid for by the National Center for Public Policy Research so he could meet with Scottish parliamentarians, though the Scottish Parliament was not in session...." [7]

On August 29, 2003, Heaton joined Ney and another Ney staffer for a one-night stopover in London where they were furnished with thousands of dollars worth of gambling chips for use at private casinos, "from a foreign businessman who has been identified by Ney's attorney as Fouad al-Zayat, a high-rolling London gambler who sought Ney's help in circumventing a law barring the sale of U.S.-made airplanes and airplane parts to other countries." [7] Ney lied to customs to smuggle in thousands of dollars received during the trip.[ citation needed ]

See also

List of federal political scandals in the United States

Related Research Articles

Bob Ney American politician and criminal

Robert William Ney is an American politician from Ohio. In 2007, he was convicted on charges of corruption and sentenced to 30 months in jail. A Republican, Ney represented Ohio's 18th congressional district in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1995 until November 3, 2006, when he resigned. Ney's resignation took place after he pleaded guilty to charges of conspiracy and making false statements in relation to the Jack Abramoff Indian lobbying scandal. Before he pleaded guilty, Ney was identified in the guilty pleas of Jack Abramoff, former Tom DeLay deputy chief of staff Tony Rudy, former DeLay press secretary Michael Scanlon and former Ney chief of staff Neil Volz for receiving lavish gifts in exchange for political favors.

Jack Abramoff American Republican lobbyist

Jack Allan Abramoff is an American lobbyist, businessman, film producer, writer, and convicted felon. He was at the center of an extensive corruption investigation led by Earl Devaney that resulted in his conviction and to 21 people either pleading guilty or being found guilty, including White House officials J. Steven Griles and David Safavian, U.S. Representative Bob Ney, and nine other lobbyists and congressional aides.

Michael Scanlon is a former communications director for Rep. Tom DeLay, lobbyist, and public relations executive who has pleaded guilty to corruption charges related to the Jack Abramoff lobbying scandal. He is currently assisting in the investigation of his former partners Abramoff, Grover Norquist and Ralph Reed by separate state and federal grand jury investigations related to the defrauding of American Indian tribes and corruption of public officials.

The Abramoff/Scanlon Indian lobbying scandal was fraud perpetrated by lobbyists Jack Abramoff and Michael Scanlon on Native American tribes who were seeking to develop casino gambling on their reservations.

Adam Kidan is an American businessman and the former president of Atlantic & Pacific Mattress Co. Due to his association with Jack Abramoff, he became a national figure when Abramoff's illegal lobbying ventures came to light. Kidan and Abramoff partnered in the purchase of SunCruz Casinos.

SunCruz Casinos offered offshore "cruises to nowhere", legally transporting passengers into international waters beyond the reach of federal and state gambling laws. In the 2000s (decade), it became known for the involvement of some high-profile lobbyists such as Jack Abramoff, and the murder of its former owner, Gus Boulis.

The monetary influence of Jack Abramoff ran deep in Washington, as Jack Abramoff spent millions of dollars to influence and entertain both Republican and Democratic politicians. Abramoff had a reputation for largesse considered exceptional even by Washington standards. In addition to offering many Republican members of Congress expensive free meals at his restaurant, Signatures, Abramoff maintained four skyboxes at major sports arenas for political entertaining at a cost of over $1 million a year. Abramoff hosted many fundraisers at these skyboxes including events for Republican politicians publicly opposed to gambling, such as John Doolittle. Abramoff gave over $260,000 in personal contributions to Republican candidates, politicians, and organizations, and funded numerous trips for politicians and staffers and gave none to Democrats.

"Team Abramoff" is the team of lobbyists assembled by Jack Abramoff when he worked at Greenberg Traurig, primarily of former aides to prominent Congressional politicians. Their work is embroiled in the Jack Abramoff scandals.

Alexander Strategy Group was an American lobbying firm involved in the K Street Project, founded by Ed Buckham and his wife Wendy. Buckham is a former chief of staff of House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, and the firm openly promoted its access to DeLay. Its chief lobbyist was Paul Behrends, who became Dana Rohrabacher's aide.

Tony Charles Rudy is an American politician. He served in the office of U. S. Representative Tom DeLay (R-TX) from approximately 1995 to 2001, and rose to be his deputy Chief of Staff.

Kevin A. Ring is a former American attorney and congressional staffer; he served Republicans in both the House and the Senate, including U.S. Representative John T. Doolittle (R-CA). He also served as a counsel on the Senate Judiciary Committee's Constitution, Federalism and Property Rights Subcommittee.

Mark Zachares is a Republican politician and lobbyist who served as Congressional aide to Rep. Don Young (R-AK). He pleaded guilty on April 24, 2007 to accepting tens of thousands of dollars in gifts from lobbyist Jack Abramoff in return for using his position in Congress to advance Abramoff's interests.

Robert E. Coughlin, II, is an American lawyer and former government official who served as the Deputy Chief of Staff, Criminal Division, of the United States Department of Justice and was a senior figure in the Jack Abramoff Probe.

The federal investigations into Jack Abramoff and his political and business dealings are among the broadest and most extensive in American political history, involving well over a dozen offices of the FBI and over 100 FBI agents tasked exclusively to the investigation. Given the extent and complexity of the suspected corruption, an entire inter-governmental task force, involving many federal government departments and agencies, has been established to aid the federal investigation. The U.S. Justice Department has announced that it will not reveal the details of the investigation, or who specifically has been targeted for investigation until indictments are issued. Under his plea agreements, Abramoff is required to answer all questions by federal investigators and prosecutors.

Todd Boulanger is an American lobbyist. He was senior vice president of Cassidy & Associates and was a figure in the Jack Abramoff scandal.

James F. Hirni is a lobbyist who was convicted of bribing U.S. Senate staff aides in exchange for favorable amendments to legislation. A former aide to U.S. Senator Tim Hutchinson (R-AR), he joined the lobbying firm Sonnenschein, Nath & Rosenthal, and then became a member of "Team Abramoff" at Greenberg Traurig. He went on to become a lobbyist for Wal-Mart from 2004–08, as its Executive Director of Republican outreach. He was fired when charges were filed concerning his activities with Abramoff.

<i>Casino Jack and the United States of Money</i> 2010 American film directed by Alex Gibney

Casino Jack and the United States of Money is a 2010 documentary film directed by Alex Gibney.

<i>Casino Jack</i> 2010 film directed by George Hickenlooper

Casino Jack is a 2010 comedy-drama thriller film directed by George Hickenlooper and starring Kevin Spacey. The film focuses on the career of Washington, D.C. lobbyist and businessman Jack Abramoff, who was involved in a massive corruption scandal that led to his conviction as well as the conviction of two White House officials, Rep. Bob Ney, and nine other lobbyists and congressional staffers. Abramoff was convicted of fraud, conspiracy and tax evasion in 2006, and of trading expensive gifts, meals and sports trips in exchange for political favors. Abramoff served three and a half years of a six-year sentence in federal prison, and was then assigned to a halfway house. He was released on December 3, 2010.

References

  1. ↑ Andy Henderson (May 1, 2007). "Class of 2000 Alum Pleads Guilty in Abramoff Scandal". The DoG Street Journal.
  2. ↑ Patrick O'Connor; Jonathan E. Kaplan (September 15, 2006). "Rep. Ney faces more than 2 years in prison". The Hill.
  3. ↑ James V. Grimaldi; Susan Schmidt (September 16, 2006). "Rep. Ney Admits Selling Influence". Washington Post . p. A01.
  4. ↑ "Assistant to Rep. Ney Subpoenaed in Probe: 3 Aides to Leave Republican's Staff". Washington Post . June 30, 2006. p. A19.
  5. ↑ Washington Theological Union Staff Listing
  6. ↑ Jackie Kucinich; Susan Crabtree (February 27, 2007). "Ney's former chief of staff agrees to plead guilty".
  7. 1 2 3 Grimaldi, James V.; Leonnig, Carol D. (27 February 2007). "Former Aide to Ex-Congressman Ney Pleads Guilty in Abramoff Case". Washington Post . p. A06.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.