Former Interior official seeks to avoid jail

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http://thehill.com/leading-the-news/former-interior-official-seeks-to-avoid-jail-2007-06-22.html

Former Interior official seeks to avoid jail
By Mike Soraghan
June 22, 2007

Next Tuesday’s sentencing of former Bush administration official J. Steven Griles has drawn comparisons to the prosecution of vice presidential aide I. Lewis “Scooter” Libby, sparked a feud between Griles’s attorneys and prosecutors, and brought many of Griles’s longtime foes out of the woodwork.

The lead plaintiff of an Indian trust lawsuit and the head of Friends of the Earth have sent letters to U.S. District Judge Ellen Huvelle, who will decide whether Griles, the former No. 2 official at the Department of the Interior, goes to prison or does community service for an industry group.

In a letter sent yesterday, Elouise Cobell, a Blackfeet Indian, wrote “Hopefully, your actions and words will now send a message that he will not forget. It is time for government officials to be held accountable.” Cobell filed suit more than a decade ago, accusing the government of mismanaging more than $100 billion in oil, gas, timber and other royalties from their lands.

The letters are in response to statements of support for Griles from former Interior Secretary Gale Norton; former high-ranking Justice Department official Tom Sansonetti, now a contender for U.S. Senate in Wyoming; and numerous other past and present Bush administration officials.

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