Former Washington lobbyist Jack Abramoff has served his time in prison and moved on to other things — including, for a time, working at a pizza shop in Baltimore. Now, his close associate, Michael Scanlon, whose cooperation helped prosecutors build corruption cases against a network of lobbyists and public officials, is going to prison himself. Judge Ellen Segal Huvelle of Washington’s federal trial court sentenced Scanlon on Feb. 11 to 20 months behind bars and to three years of supervised release for his role in bilking $20 million from Native American tribes. Scanlon, represented by Ropes & Gray partner Stephen Braga and Trout Cacheris name partner Plato Cacheris, said he is full of remorse. Braga called Scanlon a “changed man” and urged Huvelle to punish Scanlon without sending him away. Scanlon’s not looking at a pizza shop gig when he’s released from custody. He said he wants to resume his work in real estate development. — Mike Scarcella
ON THE ROAD WITH BENNETT AND HOLDER
Two heavyweights of the law met in Montana last week, but neither side — Attorney General Eric Holder Jr. and Hogan Lovells partner Robert Bennett — was pushing a plea deal or picking a fight. Longtime friends, Bennett and Holder met more than 2,000 miles from the Washington Beltway to speak at the University of Montana School of Law. Holder was the guest speaker on Feb. 9 for a lecture series named after the late Washington judges William Jones and Edward Tamm. Holder began his talk, about the honor and sacrifice of public service, with praise for Bennett. “Not only is he one of our nation’s best and wisest counselors, he is also an enthusiastic ambassador for the University of Montana and its school of law,” Holder said. Answering questions from Bennett after the lecture, Holder described his daily routine — traveling with a security detail, the national security briefings. He spoke about medical marijuana and the challenges of closing the Guantánamo Bay prison. Then Bennett asked Holder another question — but recommended Holder decline to answer. Bennett asked whether the Justice Department has a position on wolves attacking elk in Montana. Holder responded that Bennett’s a good lawyer and, at the advice of counsel, he declined to take a shot at answering the question. “He was wonderful,” Bennett said of Holder. — Mike Scarcella
