The former CEO of one of the nation’s largest reinsurance companies recieved a sentence of two years in prison and $200,000 in fines. Ronald E. Ferguson, the former top executive at General Re, was charged for his role in a scheme that cost shareholders of American International Group at least $500 million. Convictions include mail fraud, securities fraud, and lying to the SEC. (New York Times)
Glenn Marshall, the former chairman of the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe, pleaded guilty in his trial for involvement with former lobbyist Jack Abramoff. The charges against Marshall include embezzling tribal money, receiving fraudulent disability benefits from Social Security, and making illegal campaign contributions. (New York Times)
Federal authorities believe that former state Sen. Jerry Ward convinced a witness in the Ted Stevens trial to lie about a phony immunity deal in order to protect Ward. According to the Daily News-Miner newspaper of Fairbanks, Alaska, Ward is the only potential fit for the description found in federal documents filed Monday in Washington D.C. (Fairbanks Daily News-Miner)
In his second trial for obstruction of justice during the Abramoff investigation, former White House official David Safavian has decided not to take the stand in his defense and will turn the case over to a jury. Last June a federal court of appeals reversed Safavian’s original conviction. (Washington Post)
The newest of Bush’s midnight regulations was rolled out yesterday. The Office of Management and Budget passed a new “provider conscience” rule allowing health care workers to refuse to provide abortions or any other procedure they find morally troubling without fear of retribution or disciplinary action. (ProPublica)
On Monday Vice President Dick Cheney reiterated his support for advanced interrogation methods, admitting that he was directly involved in approving such methods in the first place. The Vice President also declared that Guantanamo Bay should stay open until “the end of the war on terror,” putting him at odds with President Bush. (Los Angeles Times)
The Bush administration would like to make one final attempt at increasing truck driver’s maximum working hours, despite having been stopped by federal courts twice in the past. The administration is currently trying to draft a rule through the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration that would allow drivers to stay behind the wheel up to 11 hours a day instead of just 10. (ProPublica)