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Rudy, 45, has been living in California, where he runs a business that does marketing, among other things, he said in court Friday. He also has spent a lot of time coaching children's sports teams and doing other volunteer work, he said. As a congressional aide, Rudy helped secure appropriations for Abramoff clients and developed a strategy to defeat legislation that would have restricted Internet gambling. The government says that while Rudy worked for DeLay in the late 1990s, Abramoff's lobbying team paid $50,000 to Rudy's wife for what prosecutors described as a "low-show job." Prosecutors allege she was hired only because she was Rudy's wife and that Rudy continued to accept payments from Abramoff's associates even though he knew she had stopped working. Huvelle said Friday that she was particularly struck by the arrangement with Rudy's wife. "It is fairly brash to funnel $50,000 to your own pocket basically, as a public servant," Huvelle said. In 2000, Rudy left the government, joined Team Abramoff and lobbied Congress in violation of a one-year federal ban imposed on former congressional staffers. As a lobbyist, Rudy helped organize several all-expense-paid trips. An outing to the 2001 Super Bowl in Tampa, Fla., for some House and Senate staff members included a gambling cruise on Abramoff's SunCruz casinos. Rudy helped organize a lavish 2002 trip to Scotland for congressman Ney and David Safavian, who is serving a year in prison for lying to investigators about his relationship with Abramoff. Safavian was the General Services Administration's chief of staff and later worked in the White House as the top procurement official in the George W. Bush administration. While working for DeLay, Rudy was the conduit for tickets to sporting events for numerous congressional staffers to advance Rudy's political influence and DeLay's political standing. At the time, DeLay held the No. 3 leadership post for Republicans in the House. In the late 1990s, Rudy's many gifts from Abramoff's lobbying team including use of a private jet to play golf at Pebble Beach in California. Rudy failed to disclose any of the gifts that he received from Abramoff
-- including trips, golf and frequent meals. Huvelle also ordered Rudy to pay $100,000 to several Indian tribes that were lobbying clients and a $5,000 fine.
[Associated
Press;
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