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Sentence Halved for Man Who Lied in SunCruz Deal

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June 26, 2008

FEDERAL COURTS

A ruling will let Adam Kidan serve 35 months in federal prison instead of 70 for the fraudulent purchase of the SunCruz casino gambling ships.

BY DAVID OVALLE dovalre@MiamiHerald.com

Adam Kidan, who helped prosecutors convict his for­mer business partner, dis­graced lobbyist Jack Abra­moff, will serve half of his original sentence for a crooked loan deal, a federal judge ruled Wednesday.

Kidan, 43, can now serve 35 months in federal prison instead of 70, U.S. District Judge Paul Huck said Wednesday.

Kidan and Abramoff were convicted in 2006 of lying to lenders in the purchase of South Florida's SunCruz casino gambling ships.

Federal prosecutors agreed Kidan's sentence should be reduced because of his exten­sive cooperation in the fraud­ulent purchase.

The purchase toppled Abramoff, whose own coop­eration led to the corruption conviction of U.S. Rep. Bob Ney of Ohio and others.

"If it were not for Mr. Kidan's cooperation, we might not have had sufficient evidence to charge Mr. Abra­moff," assistant U.S. Attorney Lawrence LaVecchio told Huck.

Abramoff is also hoping to get his sentence reduced because of his cooperation with federal investigators.

Kidan, of New York, began his sentence in October 2006 and is now in a federal prison in Lisbon, Ohio. Now, he can be released in 15 months, although he may be able to earn at least six months of house arrest, said his attor­ney, Jonathan Rosenthal.

During Wednesday's hear­ing, attorneys revealed Kidan had been attacked in a federal prison in New Jersey after he was deposed by lawyers in the pending Gus Boulis mur­der trial.

In a letter to The Miami Herald, Kidan said he was threatened by someone "who is a known organized crime associate."

"After a few more days of threats, I was attacked and beaten pretty badly in the bathroom by this person and two others," he wrote.

Kidan was isolated in a special cell, then moved to Ohio, a 10-hour trip for his family that used to see him regularly, Rosenthal said.

Kidan is also cooperating with the Broward state attor­ney's office in the 2001 slay­ing of Boulis, the former Sun-Cruz owner.