By Andy Sullivan

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A high-ranking Bush administration official was sentenced to 10 months in prison on Tuesday for lying to Congress as it investigated a bribery scandal centered on lobbyist Jack Abramoff.

Steven Griles, who served as the No. 2 Interior Department official between 2001 and 2005, had hoped to serve his sentence at home working for a charity sponsored by Walt Disney Co. and several outdoor-equipment makers. (emphasis mine….. are you KIDDING ME?)

But Judge Ellen Segal Huvelle said Griles had refused to take responsibility for his actions and imposed a sentence tougher than the one sought by prosecutors.

“Even now, you continue to minimize and try to excuse your conduct and the nature of your misstatements,” Huvelle said.

Griles, 59, is the highest-ranking Bush administration official convicted in the wide-ranging bribery scandal centered around Abramoff.

Griles pleaded guilty in March to lying to the Senate Indian Affairs Committee as it examined Abramoff’s clout in the Interior Department.

Abramoff is serving a six-year prison sentence and cooperating with investigators.

Griles was introduced to Abramoff by Griles’ sometime girlfriend, Italia Federici, shortly before he started at Interior. Federici has also pleaded guilty to obstructing Congress.

Federici acted as a go-between for the two men as they worked together to influence Interior Department actions that affected Abramoff’s Indian-tribe clients, Justice Department lawyers said.

More at the Reuters

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