Todd A. Boulanger, Honest Services Fraud, District of Columbia 2004

A former lobbyist has been convicted of corrupting public officials with lavish gifts and promises of future favors.

Todd A. Boulanger, 37, pleaded guilty today to conspiring with others to commit honest services fraud, Acting Assistant Attorney General Rita M. Glavin of the Criminal Division announced.

Boulanger worked as a lobbyist from 1999 through 2004 with Jack Abramoff and others, seeking to advance the interests of groups and companies they represented by lobbying federal legislative and executive branch officials.

According to court documents, Boulanger admitted that he, Abramoff, and others established contacts with federal legislative and executive branch officials who could use their influence and positions to take official actions favorable to Boulanger and the other lobbyists.

After establishing contacts with certain public officials, Boulanger admitted that he, Abramoff, and others offered and gave numerous things of value to these public officials in an effort to reward them for actions they had taken, to influence the public officials in their official actions, and to make them more receptive to requests for official actions in the future.

The things of value included all-expenses-paid travel, tens of thousands of dollars-worth of tickets to professional sporting events, concerts and other events, and frequent and expensive meals and drinks at Washington, D.C.-area restaurants and bars.

According to court documents, the public officials, in turn, agreed to take and took favorable official actions, which included the insertion or protection of legislative appropriations; the insertion, protection, removal or prevention of legislative amendments; and lobbying by the public officials of other legislative and executive branch officials to take or abstain from taking official action.

The investigation revealed that Boulanger sought the assistance of a staff member who worked on the U.S. House of Representatives, Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure.

One of Boulanger’s clients was an equipment rental company, on whose behalf Boulanger and another lobbyist, James Hirni, sought to have two legislative amendments inserted into the Federal Highway Bill in 2003.

Boulanger admitted that, with his knowledge and approval, Hirni and another individual provided an all-expenses-paid trip on Oct. 18 and 19, 2003, to game one of the Baseball World Series in New York City to the committee staff member and to Trevor Blackann, a former staff member to a U.S. Senator.

Boulanger also admitted that he and others provided a stream of things of value to a different Senate staff member in order to influence that individual to take official action favorable to Boulanger’s lobbying firm and one of Abramoff’s Native American tribal clients.

From March 2002 through March 2004, Boulanger and others provided more than $25,000 worth of tickets, meals and drinks to the Senate staff member.

The Senate staff member provided and agreed to provide official actions sought by Boulanger and others on repeated occasions.

Boulanger admitted that he provided more than $10,000 worth of tickets, meals and drinks to the legislative director for a U.S. Senator.

Boulanger met the legislative director for a U.S. Senator on numerous occasions, including at a sporting event, where he gave the director a gift worth $2,000.

Boulanger’s guilty plea is a reminder that corrupting public officials will not be tolerated and that those who engage in such behavior will be held accountable.

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