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Political consultant sentenced for imprisoning students<br><br>Wednesday, October 11, 2006<br>By Gabrielle Banks, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette<br><br>A veteran GOP consultant was sentenced today to 5 to 10 years in prison for luring two male college students into his home on separate occasions, holding them captive in his spartan apartment and threatening them with Mafia retaliation if they contacted their friends or family.<br><br>A jury convicted Leon Abramovitz, of Shadyside, in July on charges of theft, coercion, false imprisonment, unauthorized practice of law, simple assault, indecent assault and making terroristic threats. His victims, 24-year-old and 22-year-old University of Pittsburgh students, were lured into his home with the promise of jobs tailored to their career goals.<br><br>He had pleaded guilty to coercing a teenage boy and a 27-year-old and holding them captive in 1999 and 2000... <p></p><i></i>

Last week, an Allegheny County jury convicted a one-time Republican political operative, Leon Abramovitz, of luring an adult man into his home and bullying him into committing sexual acts. It was not the first time such accusations have been made: Abramovitz plead no contest to similar charges in 1999 and 2000, amid considerable media attention. Yet if his victim this time around had checked the state’s online database of sex offenders, he’d have found no record of that conviction.<br>That’s because the database, whose usefulness and accuracy has been questioned before, has been listing him as “Leon Abramowitz” instead. <!--EZCODE LINK START--><a href="http://www.pittsburghcitypaper.ws/archive.cfm?type=News%20Briefs&action=getComplete&ref=6485">www.pittsburghcitypaper.ws</a><!--EZCODE LINK END--><br><br>whoopsy <p></p><i></i>