Stephen Griles was sentenced to ten months in prison this afternoon:

The Interior Department's former No. 2 official was sentenced to 10 months in prison Tuesday for lying to senators in the Jack Abramoff lobbying scandal, the highest administration official sentenced in the probe.

J. Steven Griles, who was the department's deputy secretary, had pleaded guilty to obstructing justice.

Griles admitted to lying to Senate investigators about his relationship with Abramoff, the central figure in a corruption investigation that has led to convictions of a former congressman, legislative aides, lobbyists and officials in the Bush administration.

Griles had asked to be spared prison time. Under his plea deal with prosecutors, the Justice Department recommended he serve five months in prison and five months in a halfway house or under house arrest. U.S. District Judge Ellen Segal Huvelle decided he should spend the full sentence in prison. (that's our emphasis added)