"AUSTIN - Former House majority leader Tom DeLay, the brash Texan who helped build and tightly control a Republican majority in his chamber until resigning in 2005, was sentenced by a state judge on Monday to three years in prison for illegally plotting to funnel corporate contributions to Texas legislative candidates." DeLay was a key figure in the scandal emanating from lobbyist Jack Abramoff's activities at the Department of the Interior.

R. Jeffrey Smith reports for the Washington Post January 10, 2011. [2]