Alaska political corruption probe
The Alaska political corruption probe refers to a 2003 to 2010 widespread investigation by the Public Integrity Section of the U.S. Department of Justice, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and the Internal Revenue Service into political corruption of nine then-current or former Alaskan state lawmakers, as well as Republican US Representative Don Young and then-US Senator, Republican Ted Stevens.
From their position in the hotel suite, they gathered evidence, such as a videotape of VECO's CEO Bill Allen arranging paper money for legislators, and made other observations.
In August 2008 US Senator Ted Stevens was indicted and, by October, he was convicted in Washington, D.C., on seven felony counts of failure to disclose gifts.
It ran in Alaska's three largest newspapers and named 11 lawmakers who had received large campaign contributions from executives of the oilfield services company VECO Corporation.
Additionally, Backes noted the consulting contract Senate President Ben Stevens (R-Anchorage) had with VECO Corporation and financial relationships other lawmakers had with other companies active in the oil and gas industry, including ConocoPhillips and ASCG Incorporated, the latter a subsidiary of the Alaska Native-owned Arctic Slope Regional Corporation which is heavily involved in oilfield business in Alaska.
"[2] In the first week of August 2006, an ill Representative Carl E. Moses returned to the state capitol in Juneau after receiving medical treatment in Anchorage, to cast a critical vote that ensured passage of a bill giving tax breaks to the oil industry.
[4] On August 31 and September 1, 2006, the FBI served some 20 search warrants in Anchorage, Juneau, Wasilla, Eagle River, Girdwood, and Willow, primarily on the district and capitol offices of several legislators.
[14] One of these was a copy of an affidavit by Victor Smith, a salmon fisherman from Friday Harbor who alleged that Stevens had been paid by a seiners association to lobby his father and that he failed to disclose that income as required by Alaska law.
The warrant showed that federal investigators were also interested in information related to developer Marc Marlow and correspondence between Kohring and the Alaska Department of Corrections.
Ross told the Anchorage Daily News that his client had been questioned by the FBI about Cornell Companies' (purchased by GEO Group in 2010) effort, in cooperation with VECO Corporation, to build a for-profit prison in Whittier.
The Daily News observed, "Those documents, though lacking detail or context, suggest that the probe is wide-ranging and not focused on any one company, issue or individual.
"[16] The observation by the Anchorage Daily News and other news organizations, that the probe had a wider focus than legislators' ties to the VECO Corporation, was confirmed on December 7, 2006, when outgoing Representative Tom Anderson - whose offices had not been targeted by the August and September FBI raids — was arrested on allegations of extortion, bribery, conspiracy, and money laundering involving his support of a private corrections company.
[17] Court documents filed on March 22, 2010, in a criminal appeal indicated that Prewitt had been paid $200,000 for his assistance in investigating and convicting his former Allvest associates.
[18] Additional subpoenas were served on fishery executives involved with federal funding and the United Fishermen of Alaska who have had business associations with Ben Stevens.
[19] On May 4, 2007, former Representatives Pete Kott (R-Eagle River) and Bruce Weyhrauch (R-Juneau) were arrested and charged with bribery, extortion wire and mail fraud.
[35] Of the original seven lawmakers who had their legislative offices searched, only Democratic State Senator Don Olson (D-Nome), who had refused a bribe, was not implicated in the scandal and helped the FBI to make their cases.
[36] On May 7, 2007, VECO CEO Bill Allen and Vice President for Community & Government Affairs Rick Smith pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in Anchorage to charges of extortion, bribery, and conspiracy to impede the Internal Revenue Service.
In the May 7 guilty pleas by Allen and Smith, they admit that the only work done by Senator B in exchange for the funds was advancing VECO's agenda in the state legislature.
[39] On May 14, 2007, William (Bill) Bobrick, a prominent municipal lobbyist in Anchorage, was charged with one count of conspiracy to commit extortion, bribery, and money laundering in the same scheme for which Rep. Tom Anderson was indicted the previous December.
[43] On July 29, 2008, just a day short of the anniversary of the Girdwood raids, Stevens was charged with seven counts of false statements on financial disclosures involving VECO, the oil services company in Alaska, and the renovations done on his home.
"[45][46] On February 16, 2009, the Justice Department stated in a court filing that it had removed six attorneys from "litigation relating to allegations of misconduct in (the case against former Senator Stevens)."
The six attorneys were William M. Welch II, Brenda K. Morris, Nicholas A. Marsh, Edward P. Sullivan, Joseph W. Bottini, and James A.
[50] In 2008, Clark admitted that he was aware that Veco Corp had paid $10,000 for a political poll to gauge the popularity of then-incumbent Governor Murkowski, and was charged with "honest services fraud".
Before he was sentenced, the US Supreme Court ruled that the statute was drafted with unconstitutional vagueness and henceforth will only cover "fraudulent schemes to deprive another of honest services through bribes or kickbacks supplied by a third party who ha[s] not been deceived."
On August 11, 2008, the Anchorage Daily News reported that Bill Weimar, a former operator of halfway houses for inmates in Alaska was indicted and charged with two felony counts alleging campaign finance violations.
Weimar agreed to plead guilty to the charges, and in exchange, prosecutors will ask for a reduced sentence, a nonbinding agreement that the judge is free to modify.
[52] In 2010, Weimar who was on federal probation after serving six months in prison for illegal campaign contributions, allegedly forced sex on a six-year-old Sarasota girl.
[56] Ward allegedly convinced a witness in the trial against Senator Ted Stevens to lie about an immunity deal in court to ensure that he was included in it and would therefore not be prosecuted.
On March 13, 2009, the Anchorage Daily News reported that former Alaska state representative Beverly Masek had pleaded guilty to soliciting and accepting at least $4,000 in bribes from VECO Corp. Masek, who originally rose to fame by competing in the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race while still known by her maiden name of Beverly Jerue, was first elected to the House in 1994.
Masek represented a district consisting of the northern and western reaches of the Matanuska-Susitna Borough in the House from 1995 to 2005 before being defeated by Mark Neuman in the 2004 primary election.
