U.S. Rep. Lloyd Smucker
One event Smucker didn't mention, though, was his meeting with Adam Kidan, a former business partner of disgraced Washington lobbyist Jack Abramoff who has served time in federal prison for fraud and conspiracy and has now emerged as a major political donor and supporter of Lancaster County's congressman.
Smucker's meeting with Kidan, at former President Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago Club, wasn't their first.
Since 2021, Smucker has spent time with Kidan and his partner, Cristiani de Fatima Pereira, on at least five occasions, several far from his southcentral Pennsylvania district, including at Napa Valley wineries in California and at events in Texas and Florida.
Kidan also said he plays a central role in the congressman's fundraising efforts, as a member of Smucker's "steering committee."
Smucker declined requests to talk for this story. But his campaign manager, Jenna Geesey, said the steering committee is a fundraising initiative, and includes donors across the district who are business and community leaders.
In September 2000, Kidan and Abramoff made a deal to purchase Florida-based SunCruz Casinos from Konstantinos "Gus" Boulis. The business sailed cruise ships into international waters, where gambling was not regulated by state law.
In February 2001, Boulis was shot and killed while driving his BMW in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, in what The Washington Post called a "gangland-style slaying." Kidan was questioned in the case but was not charged with any wrongdoing. He later testified for the prosecution.
In September 2005, authorities charged three men in the homicide case. Kidan had paid two of the men, Anthony "Little Tony" Ferrari and Anthony "Big Tony" Moscatiello, more than $240,000 as consultants in the SunCruz deal in the months leading up to the murder, according to news reports at the time. Moscatiello had previously been indicted for heroin trafficking for the Gambino organized crime family, news reports noted. Ferrari and Moscatiello were convicted of murder in the Boulis case and sentenced to life in prison.
Also in 2005, Kidan and Abramoff pleaded guilty to defrauding lenders who helped them buy SunCruz, court documents show. Kidan and Abramoff had been accused of "allegedly concocting a fake $23 million wire transfer to make it appear they were putting a significant portion of their own money into the $147.5 million SunCruz deal," NBC News reported. "Two lenders agreed to provide $60 million in financing for the SunCruz purchase based on that false wire transfer, according to prosecutors."
MORE:
