Jack Abramoff, the Capitol Hill lobbyist who was convicted of fraud and corruption charges in 2006, is now working at a kosher pizzeria in Baltimore.
The Baltimore Jewish Times reported this week that Abramoff, 51, spends his nights at a halfway house in Baltimore and his days at Tov Pizza, where owner Ron Rosenbluth depends on him for marketing strategies. Abramoff at one time owned a kosher restaurant in Wash-ington, D.C.
The former lobbyist is still under the authority of the Bureau of Prisons until his Dec. 4 re-lease and could not be interviewed. He served three-and-a-half years in a minimum-security federal prison in western Maryland where former inmates said he gave Torah lessons. He was released June 8.
As part of his deal for a guilty plea, Abramoff cooperated in a long-running Justice Department investigation that led to the convictions of former Rep. Bob Ney (R-Ohio), former Deputy Interior Secretary J. Steven Griles and several top Capitol Hill aides.
The Associated Press reported that although he has expressed remorse, Abramoff also cooperated with the author of a 2008 book, “The Perfect Villain: John McCain and the Demonization of Lobbyist Jack Abramoff,” in which he blamed former GOP presidential candidate Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) for making him the fall guy.
Abramoff is the subject of the documentary film, “Casino Jack,” released this year. A fictionalized version, “Casino Jack and the United States of Money,” starring Kevin Spacey, is in the works.