WASHINGTON (CNN) — Former Rep. Bob Ney, R-Ohio, expresses remorse and quotes singer/songwriter Garth Brooks in an e-mail sent to friends Wednesday, a day before he is to enter federal prison after
pleading guilty to corruption charges.
Ney will report Thursday to a minimum security prison in Morgantown, W.Va., to begin serving his 30-month sentence after his guilty plea in the Jack Abramoff lobbying scandal.
In the all-lowercase e-mail note to friends, Ney thanks them “for all you have done for me and my family. your kind words, thoughts, and prayers throughout the last six months have helped us quite a lot.”
Ney, once a rising star in Congress, resigned his seat on Nov. 3 after acknowledging in October that he used his office for personal gain.
The former congressman pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit fraud, deprive his constituents of honest service and violate his former chief of staff’s one-year lobbying ban; and a count of making false statements to the House. All of the allegations stemmed from the long-running probe into actions by disgraced lobbyist Abramoff.
WIKIPEDIA: On 11 March 2003, Representatives Robert W. Ney declared that all references to French fries and French toast on the menus of the restaurants and snack bars run by the House of Representatives would be removed. House cafeterias were ordered to rename French fries as “freedom fries”. This action was carried out without a congressional vote, under the authority of Congressman Ney’s position as Chairman of the Committee on House Administration, which oversees restaurant operations for the chamber. The French embassy made no comment, except to point out that French fries come from Belgium.