Ex-VOA chief of staff indicted in Abramoff scandal

[mahatmakanejeeves]

Source: Washington Examiner

Ex-VOA chief of staff indicted in Abramoff scandal
By: Scott McCabe
Examiner Staff Writer
August 24, 2009

A former chief of staff of Voice of America has been indicted by a D.C. federal grand jury on public corruption charges over accusations he took thousands of dollars in sports and concert tickets from disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff.

Horace M. Cooper, 44, of Lorton, Va., will appear Sept. 9 to face charges of conspiracy, fraudulent concealment, false statements and obstruction of an official proceeding. He faces up to 20 years if convicted, according to federal prosecutors.
....

In court filings, federal prosecutors said Cooper began to solicit and accept gifts from Abramoff's lobbying firm in 1998, when Cooper was legislative director to then Republican House Majority Leader Dick Armey. Cooper accepted luxury box seats for Redskins and Orioles games, floor seats for Wizards contests, and tickets for Alan Jackson, Bruce Springsteen and N'Sync concerts at MCI Center.

The gifts continued to flow Cooper's way when he took a new job as the chief of staff for two federal agencies from 2001 to 2005, first at Voice of America and then the U.S. Department of Labor's Employment Standards Administration.

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Read more: http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/local/crime/Ex-VOA-chief-of-staff-indicted-in-Abramoff-scandal-8146608-54357747.html

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