WASHINGTON — Asking forgiveness from “the Almighty and from those I have wronged,” Jack Abramoff, once considered the most powerful lobbyist on Capitol Hill, pleaded guilty Tuesday to a scheme of fraud and tax evasion that could send him to prison for 11 years.

Abramoff becomes a prospective witness for the prosecution in an influence-peddling probe of Congress that has mushroomed into a major corruption scandal. It has already ensnared one member of Congress and two former congressional aides, and Abramoff’s guilty plea gives the probe a new impetus.

“The corruption scheme with Mr. Abramoff is very extensive, and we will continue to follow it wherever it leads,” said Assistant Atty. Gen. Alice Fisher, head of the Justice Department’s criminal division. “We are going to expend the resources that are necessary to make sure that people know that government is not for sale.”

“This is just the beginning,” predicted Stanley Brand, a Washington lawyer and former general counsel of the House of Representatives. “That is the pattern of the Justice Department. They start with the lobbyists and the outsiders, and they build into the public officials. The members of Congress are the highest point in the food chain.”

I knew Abramoff, not well, but met him and immediately thought him to be a huge sleazebag. Those were my instincts, and that was back in the mid-’90s. I warned prominent friends of mine, in Congress and the private sector, not to do business with him. Some listened and recently thanked me for my warnings. Others did not, and–although they had no connection to his unethical, criminal enterprises–are hoping they escape public scrutiny.

I told others of my suspicions that he was tied to organized crime and had something to do with the gangland style murder of Gus Boulis, from whom he bought SunCruz casinos. I said there was no way he’d have the money to pay even the small amount down on the multi-millions required for that deal. That was back in 2001. They didn’t believe me. But I was right.

Now, however, a guilty plea by Casino Jack makes it official that he is a criminal and sleaze-bucket. So on this, I am not Cassandra any more.