Robert William Ney (born July 5, 1954) is an American former politician who represented Ohio's 18th congressional district in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1995 until his resignation on November 3, 2006, after he pleaded guilty to charges of conspiracy and making false statements in relation to the Jack Abramoff Indian lobbying scandal.

Before he pleaded guilty, Ney was identified in the guilty pleas of Jack Abramoff, former Tom DeLay deputy chief of staff Tony Rudy, former DeLay press secretary Michael Scanlon and former Ney chief of staff Neil Volz for receiving lavish gifts in exchange for political favors.

A Republican, Ney's best-known congressional work was on the election reform efforts founded in the wake of the confused 2000 voting in Florida, and his support and backing for the "Stand Up For Steel" crusade and resulting laws.

In November 1994, Ney decided to run for Ohio's 18th congressional district after nine-term incumbent Democrat Douglas Applegate announced his retirement.

"[11] Ney's opponent in the November general election was to be Zack Space, a Dover, Ohio lawyer and hotel developer.

For the April–June period, it was unusually intense campaigning in his rural district that caused the six-term incumbent to spend $52,675 more than donors gave him in the last three months, he said.

[...] If he lost his House seat for the party, Boehner is said to have cautioned, Ney could not expect a lucrative career on K Street to pay those tuition bills, along with the hundreds of thousands of dollars in legal fees piling up.

The special election was held on September 14, and was won by State Senator Joy Padgett with just under half of the fewer than 1600 votes cast.

[17] It is widely believed that Ney's delay in resigning cost Padgett any chance of keeping the seat in Republican hands, as she was routed by Space 62% to 38%.

He was known for bucking his party's leadership on issues important to his mostly blue-collar district, such as championing the needs of the beleaguered steel industry.

In 2001, Ney was one of three Republicans to vote against the USA Patriot Act (the other two were Butch Otter of Idaho and Ron Paul of Texas).

[18] In 2005, he voted against President Bush's Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA) and against Republican budget cuts to Medicaid and after-school programs.

Michael Scanlon pleaded guilty to conspiring to bribe a member of Congress, identified as Ney, and other public officials.

In the agreement, Scanlon admitted to bribing Ney in return for, among other things, the following (described in more detail below): On January 3, 2006, Abramoff pleaded guilty to three felony counts involving charges stemming principally from his lobbying activities in Washington on behalf of Native American tribes.

Bloomberg News described the plea agreement: On May 18, 2006, the House Ethics Committee announced an investigation into bribery allegations against Ney.

[33] In four separate guilty pleas, Jack Abramoff, former DeLay deputy chief of staff Tony Rudy, former DeLay press secretary Michael Scanlon and former Ney chief of staff Neil Volz all said Ney had used his position to grant favors to the Abramoff lobbying team in exchange for gifts, including a free trip to the Super Bowl, Northern Marianas Islands, Scotland, the use of luxury boxes at sporting events, and concerts and meals.

Ney is the first member of Congress to admit to criminal charges in the Abramoff investigation, which has focused on the actions of several current and former Republican lawmakers who had been close to the former lobbyist.

[36] William Heaton, Chief of Staff for to Rep. Bob Ney also pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit fraud.

[This quote needs a citation] Ney introduced legislation that would allow the Tiguas Indians to reopen their casino after receiving $32,000 in donations to his PAC and campaign from the tribe.

The company, then Foxcom Wireless, an Israeli start-up telecommunications firm, (which has since moved headquarters from Jerusalem to Vienna, Va., and been renamed MobileAccess Networks) later paid Abramoff $280,000 for lobbying.

[48] The trip was paid for by "Nigel Winfield, a thrice-convicted felon who ran a company in Cyprus called FN Aviation.

"[49] Syrian businessman Fouad al-Zayat, who was responsible for managing the transaction on behalf of the Iranian military, was also identified for bribing Ney for his lobbying efforts.

[50][51][52] A filing with Federal Election Commission in October said that Ney had paid the law firm Vinson & Elkins $136,000 from July through September, from campaign funds.

Brian Walsh, spokesman for Ney, said in April 2006: "Frankly, it's an unfortunate commentary on the justice system that someone has to spend a lot of money simply to clear their name and set the record straight in what is in this case completely false allegations."

In a Federal Election Commission filing showing expenses through the end of June 2006, Ney reported that he had not paid any legal fees since January 5 from campaign funds.

Mark Tuohey, the lead lawyer at Vinson & Elkins, said Ney "needs money for his campaign and that's a priority right now.

[56][57] Ney's withdrawal from the race (see below) meant that he could use his remaining campaign funds (almost half a million dollars) for his legal defense.

[59][60] On January 19, 2007, Ney was sentenced to a 30 months in prison, ordered to pay a $6,000 fine[61] and provide 200 hours of community service.

He shared a space in the prison with former Survivor star Richard Hatch, a Morgantown inmate serving 51 months for failing to pay taxes.

[65] In March 2013, Ney released his memoir, Sideswiped: Lessons Learned Courtesy of the Hit Men of Capitol Hill.