Updated at 4:14 p.m.
With $44 million in restitution to pay off, former influence peddler Jack Abramoff may return to show business.
Speaking at a Public Citizen forum in Washington on Monday, Abramoff, who pleaded guilty in 2006 to corruption and tax evasion charges, said he may pursue work as a movie producer – a job he held before he joined Preston Gates Ellis (now K&L Gates) in 1994.
His movie credits include the 1989 action film Red Scorpion and its 1995 sequel, Red Scorpion 2. Red Scorpion follows a Soviet KGB agent who is ordered to assassinate an African leader, while the second movie focuses on a U.S. agent who sets out to take down a neo-Nazi group, according to TVGuide.com.
Abramoff said he has pulled in only “a few thousand dollars” so far from his memoir, Capitol Punishment: The Hard Truth About Washington from America's Most Notorious Lobbyist, which was released in November. The former lobbyist said he’s living on writing fees and loans from friends. He also received $5,000 last month to speak at the Kentucky Legislative Ethics Commission's annual ethics session for the state legislature.
“It’s hard for a felon in America to make money to be honest with you,” he said.
Abramoff said he also has an interest in establishing businesses that aren’t related to politics. But, as a convicted felon, the former lobbyist said he can’t get bank loans.
“There are lots of things that are very difficult,” Abramoff said. “It is what is and I’m just doing my best to get by.”
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