Demagogue

Jack Abramoff just got a nearly 6 year prison sentence.

Disgraced former lobbyist Jack Abramoff was sentenced to five years and 10 months in prison in a Florida fraud case, the minimum sentence allowed.

Abramoff and former partner Adam Kidan pleaded guilty to conspiracy and wire fraud stemming from the ill-fated purchase in 2000 of the SunCruz Casinos gambling fleet.

The sentence won't start immediately so the pair can continue cooperating in a Washington corruption investigation and a Florida probe into the murder of former SunCruz owner Konstantinos "Gus" Boulis.

Symbolically this ups the ante-- Abramoff is going to be very motivated to do whatever he can to avoid racking up too many years. It'll be interesting to see how this ripples through the GOP establishment.