Guardian : Former Ney Aide Gets No Prison Time

Former Ney Aide Gets No Prison Time

By MATT APUZZO | Associated Press Writer | August 16, 2007

WASHINGTON (AP) - A former Capitol Hill aide received probation and a fine but no jail time Thursday after a federal judge credited him with helping the Justice Department convict a congressman in the Jack Abramoff scandal.

William Heaton let FBI agents record his telephone calls and taped a 2-hour meeting with Rep. Bob Ney, R-Ohio. He leaked documents and worked late into the night and on weekends to avoid arousing suspicion that he was working with the government.

Federal prosecutors recommended that Heaton serve house arrest, but U.S. District Judge Ellen Segal Huvelle ordered him to serve two years probation and pay a $5,000 fine. Huvelle said she would not have been so lenient had Heaton's cooperation not been so exceptional.

``People don't generally walk around congressmen wearing a wire,'' Huvelle said.

Heaton, 29, apologized several times in court. He said he was ashamed that he did not have the courage to stand up to Ney, who was trading political access for campaign donations, trips and expensive gifts.

``American citizens should be able to trust those who work on their behalf,'' he said in court. ``I violated that trust.''

Ney, who resigned from Congress, was sentenced in January to 2 years in prison after pleading guilty.

After helping send Ney to prison, Heaton pleaded guilty to federal conspiracy. He admitted accepting a golf trip to Scotland, expensive meals, and tickets to sporting events between 2002 and 2004 as payoffs for helping clients of disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff.

``I made several terrible decisions while working for Congressman Ney, but in my mind the most awful was my silence,'' Heaton wrote in a letter to the court. ``I remained silent about much that occurred during my tenure with Congressman Ney because I was too fearful of the consequences if I spoke up.''

He said he realized Ney's behavior was inappropriate but did not initially come forward because he did not want to be a ``tattletale on the playground.''