The Jack Abramoff Indian lobbying scandal was a United States political scandal exposed in 2005; it related to fraud perpetrated by political lobbyists Jack Abramoff, Ralph E. Reed Jr., Grover Norquist and Michael Scanlon on Native American tribes who were seeking to develop casino gambling on their reservations. The lobbyists charged the tribes an estimated $85 million in fees. Abramoff and Scanlon grossly overbilled their clients, secretly splitting the multi-million dollar profits. In one case, they secretly orchestrated lobbying against their own clients in order to force them to pay for lobbying services. In the course of the scheme, the lobbyists were accused of illegally giving gifts and making campaign donations to legislators in return for votes or support of legislation. Representative Bob Ney (R-OH) and two aides to Tom DeLay (R-TX) were directly implicated; other politicians had various ties. Guilty pleas Scanlon and Abramoff both pleaded guilty to a variety of criminal charges related to the scheme. On January 3, 2006, Abramoff pleaded guilty to three felony counts—conspiracy, fraud, and tax evasion—involving charges stemming principally from his lobbying activities in Washington on behalf of Native American tribes. In addition, Abramoff and other defendants were ordered to make restitution of at least $25 million that was defrauded from clients, most notably the Native American tribes. Abramoff owes the Internal Revenue Service $1.7 million as a result of his guilty plea to the tax evasion charge. On May 8, 2006, Neil Volz, former chief of staff to Representative Bob Ney (R-Ohio), staff director of the House Administration Committee, and later part of Team Abramoff, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy, including wire fraud and violating House rules, charges stemming from his work for both Ney and Greenberg Traurig. On March 23, 2007, J. Steven Griles, former Deputy Secretary of the U.S. Department of Interior, pleaded guilty to obstruction of justice in the Senate investigation of the Abramoff scandal. A political appointee, he was the top Bush administration official to plead guilty in the scandal. Investigations On November 25, 2005, The Wall Street Journal reported the expansion of the investigation to four members of Congress: in addition to Ney and DeLay, the report includes Rep. John Doolittle (R., Calif.) and Sen. Conrad Burns (R., Mont.) On December 2, 2005, The New York Times reported that federal prosecutors were considering a plea bargain arrangement that would give Abramoff some consideration if he