Jack Abramoff

Lobbyist Jack Abramoff is the key figure in an American financial and political corruption scandal of the early 21st century. Abramoff pleaded guilty in January of 2006 to charges of tax evasion, fraud and conspiracy, while agreeing to provide information to prosecutors about his dealings with members of Congress. Though the charges against Abramoff are many and complicated, he is primarily accused of collecting millions of dollars in inflated lobbying and legal fees from clients and using that money to influence Congressmen and other legislators through gifts and political donations. Abramoff attended Brandeis University (where he was an active supporter of Ronald Reagan's 1980 presidential campaign) and later joined fellow activists Grover Norquist and Ralph Reed in running the College Republican National Committee. After earning a law degree from Georgetown University, Abramoff became a lobbyist and lawyer in Washington, D.C. In the 1990s Abramoff gained influence with future Senate majority leader Tom DeLay and other rising lawmakers. By 2001, with George W. Bush in the White House and Republicans in control of Congress, Abramoff was one of the most influential lobbyists in Washington. A few years later his shady deals became more publicly known, and investigations by the Justice Department led to his 2006 plea agreement. In March of 2006 he was sentenced to five years and ten months in a federal prison.

Extra credit: While establishing himself as a lobbyist in the late 1980s, Abramoff also produced the anti-Communist feature film Red Scorpion (1989).