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Bad Will Heaton
Well, not so bad apparently. Ex-Rep. Bob Ney's (R-OH) former chief of staff Will Heaton was sentenced to two years of probation today for his involvement with Ney and Jack Abramoff.
Apparently the judge was mollified by Heaton's extensive cooperation with investigators -- wearing a wire for conversations with Ney and even passing on documents from Ney's office.
Heaton's youth (he's still a ripe 29) was also a factor. As prosecutors wrote in a recent court filing, Heaton was tapped to be Ney's chief of staff at 24 exactly because he was young and unqualified. "Ney intentionally hired and quickly promoted young, inexperienced staffers - who did not receive any formal ethics training from Congress - so that the staffers would have neither the knowledge nor the maturity to question Ney's conduct," prosecutors wrote. And he kept all those young staffers in line by making sure they knew that if they stepped out of line, they'd be cut off from all the lobbyist freebies.
Most of the major cooperators in the Abramoff investigation (such as Ney's prior chief of staff Neil Volz) have yet to be sentenced, as they continue to cooperate with investigators.
Comments (9)
Anonymous wrote on August 16, 2007 1:16 PM:How about that $500,000 townhouse purchase that Will made in 2004, at the tender age of 24? Did Mommy and Daddy or Jack Abramoff help out?
M M wrote on August 16, 2007 2:00 PM:How very "Bud Fox" in the movie Wall Street: young employee played by powerful boss, turned by the Feds, wears mike and brings down boss. Does this guy's girlfriend look like Daryl Hannah?
Nelly Bly wrote on August 16, 2007 2:01 PM:At the end of April, the DOJ told the court it anticipated that Neil G. Volz's cooperation would be substantially completed soon.
On 7/3/0/07, a "Terminate Deadlines and Hearings" document was filed with the court but it is not accessible through PACER. Anyone know what this means?
Anonymous wrote on August 16, 2007 2:05 PM:The real question is why the hell is DeLay still wandering the streets?
Shame wrote on August 16, 2007 2:29 PM:Good for him!
shame is the sc. Interesting.
The Truth wrote on August 16, 2007 3:44 PM:Will Heaton got what he deserved, nothing! He is not a criminal but a victim of circumstance. Bobby Ney is the real criminal and is behind bars where he belongs. Heaton co-operated to the fullest after realizing his mistakes and was sentenced accordingly.
Neighbor wrote on August 16, 2007 4:19 PM:From a FORMER NEIGHBOR of Bob Ney-- this judge must have seen the intense arrogance of the 'criminal mind of Bob Ney' and the innocence of Will Heaton. We do not need to add to the taxpayers expense for jail. His life will be unforgetable memories.
Slippery Slope wrote on August 16, 2007 5:33 PM:Well, hiring un-knowledgeable and immature staff to run roughshod over sure sounds familiar, but I can't quite place my finger on it....
Hmmmmm
DOJ?
Office of Political Affairs?
USA’s?
Is there a pattern here?
Nay… Just coincidence.
johnnydoughey wrote on August 16, 2007 8:33 PM:It's a sad commentary on our society to realize judges no longer consider 24 and 25 year old should already have a grasp on integrity and ethics. They need formal ethics training from Congress (I'm surprised there are ANY congressmen actually capable of teaching ethics). These are assets which, 30 years ago, were expected to be ingrained BEFORE taking on responsibilities which affected the entire country.
Part of our downhill slide....