Jack Abramoff starts his prison sentence

CNN is reporting that Jack Abramoff started his six-year prison sentence today:

CUMBERLAND, Maryland (AP) -- Disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff, convicted of federal charges after using expensive gifts, campaign donations and exotic trips to win access to the powerful in Washington, went to prison Wednesday.

Abramoff arrived at about 6:30 a.m. EST at a relatively secluded prison facility in western Maryland and began to serve a nearly six-year prison sentence for a fraudulent deal to buy a fleet of casino ships in Florida.

Abramoff was delivered out of sight of waiting reporters and camera crews and his arrival was announced in a two-paragraph statement by a prison representative.

The part of the camp where Abramoff will be kept is a 334-bed minimum security facility located near an industrial park along the north branch of the Potomac River.

The camp is all male. It consists of a number of two-story dormitories that are light red cinderblock structures. Each dormitory contains a number of six-bed cubicles, and Abramoff was being assigned to one of those. The prison is nearly surrounded by Appalachian Mountain ridges rising along either bank of the Potomac on the Maryland and West Virginia sides of the river.

A friend of mine recently spent Shabbos with then and had nothing but rave reviews of Jack and his family - he was quite pleased with the food. To Jack, I hope you will come out of this a better man.