FILE - In this Monday, June 12, 2006 file photo, David Safavian, the former chief of staff at the General Services Administration, leaves the U.S. District Courthouse, in Washington. Stung by a jury that deadlocked on charges against a former lobbyist, federal prosecutors in the Jack Abramoff influence-peddling scandal are returning to court in an attempt to make sure one of their biggest catches is sent to prison. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta, file) (The Associated Press)

Washington » The former top procurement official in George W. Bush's administration was sentenced Friday to a year in prison for lying about his ties to disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff.

U.S. District Judge Paul Friedman told David Safavian, also a former aide to then-Rep. Chris Cannon, R-Utah, that he must be punished for obstructing justice and making false statements to investigators who were looking into the Abramoff scandal.

Safavian and his wife, Jennifer, each pleaded tearfully to the judge not to send the former Bush White House official to prison.

Safavian, 42, said he never intended to break the law, while acknowledging that "I am the poster child" for staying in "the gray areas of ethics."

"I know I have made stupid decisions," he said.

Friedman postponed Safavian's reporting date for his prison sentence until after his pregnant wife delivers their new baby, due next March. Safavian also could choose to appeal.

Safavian provided Abramoff with information on two pieces of government-controlled property the lobbyist wanted, and Safavian accepted a golfing junket to Scotland largely paid for by Abramoff.

Rep. Cannon asked for leniency for aide

David Safavian served as Rep. Chris Cannon's chief of staff from January 2001 to May 2002, when he left to take a post with the General Services

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Administration. During Safavian's tenure with the Utah Republican, the congressman took positions that helped several of Safavian's former clients, including the online gaming industry, telecommunications firms, a media giant and an Indian tribe. A Cannon spokesman has said the two simply agreed on those issues. After Safavian's conviction, Cannon wrote a letter asking a judge for leniency for his former aide.