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Top Veco Execs Plead Guilty To Bribery
The Anchorage Daily News reports that top Veco Corp. executives pled guilty to bribery and conspiracy charges in federal court today, under a deal that could buy them gentler sentences in exchange for cooperation in an FBI corruption investigation.
Bill J. Allen, Veco’s chief executive, and Rick Smith, the company’s vice president and chief lobbyist could sit behind bars for five to 15 years and shell out up to $250,000 in fines on each count.
In the written charges, prosecutors say Allen and Smith conspired "to offer and provide things of value to" three state representatives and two senators, none of them named in the document. Among the specifics listed, Allen is accused of paying a "special bonus" of corporate funds to certain Veco executives so they could make illegal campaign contributions.The two executives will likely provide important testimony in the cases of three state legislators charged with extortion and bribery in federal court last week -- and the two anonymous state senators implicated in their guilty pleas. As reported by Paul on Friday, the indictment alleges a classic cash-for-votes corruption scheme. One of the legislators, Pete Kott, met with Allen in the executive’s hotel suite where he complained about having “to cheat, steal, beg, borrow and lie,” to ensure government-backing of a pipeline valuable to Veco. In response to the legislator’s complaints, Allen said: “I own your ass.” The indictment masks the identities of two Alaska state senators, calling them only by A and B. It's not clear if Alaska's Senate President Ben Stevens, son of U.S. Senator Ted Stevens (R-AK), whose office was raided by the FBI in August, is one of them.
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Josh
Zachary
Could this be a trend? Republicans evil doers pleading guilty now rather than waiting until later and having to face tougher prosecutors down the road?
May 7, 2007 4:49 PM | Reply | Permalink
I hate to sound paranoid, but if you want to fundamentally change a government from the inside out, tear down its most fundamental institutions, and turn it into some sort of banana republic, you don't do that by taking over just one party, at least not in the US where the multi-party system is so ingrained. In the US, you would need to take over one party and also have people within the other party that are wiling to undermine their own party and provide intelligence to the other side. Lieberman does it outwardly, but how many others lurk in the dark?
Bush has no leverage. Pelosi and Reid know it. Yet they do very little of substance. Instead, they make small moves that have no teeth -- just enough to keep their base from freaking out. Why???
May 7, 2007 5:06 PM | Reply | Permalink
too bad the DOJ has been crippled. wonder if there is anyone home?
May 7, 2007 5:09 PM | Reply | Permalink
I'm hopin' one of those "Corrupt Bastards Caucus" hats turns up on e-bay!
May 7, 2007 5:32 PM | Reply | Permalink
Hail to the Queen of England! Avoid Impeachment, just relieve the w of his job and take us back into the fold.
May 7, 2007 5:40 PM | Reply | Permalink
"It's not clear if Alaska's Senate President Ben Stevens, son of U.S. Senator Ted Stevens (R-AK), whose office was raided by the FBI in August, is one of them."
The facts for "State Senator B" in the plea agreement for Allen fit only Ben Stevens and no one else (see http://www.adn.com/static/includes/alaskapolitics/indictments/Allen_plea_agreement_facts.pdf ).
Stevens had a consulting company and was paid by VECO. He disclosed the "client" in his public disclosure filings but refused to say what services were performed. One of the reasons he did not run for re-election was the public furor raised by his political opponents over his "consulting".
What everyone in Juneau is wondering is who was wearing the wire, or were the phones and suite bugged.
One fallout of this is that the Legislature might reconsider the oil and gas tax package that was passed using these bought votes. The oil and gas producing companies (Phillips Conoco. Exxon Mobil, and BP) are distancing themselves from their old buddy Bill Allen as fast as they can.
Security code today: every, as in every fact will come out eventually.
May 7, 2007 5:42 PM | Reply | Permalink
Hopefully, Alaska voters are now fully apprised as to the problem, and will take appropriate action at the ballot box.
May 7, 2007 5:46 PM | Reply | Permalink
As a lifelong Alaskan, this is so long overdue. Bill needs to take out a full two page color ad in the ADN and say SORRY I SCREWED YOU WHILE OWNING THE NEWSPAPER. LOL Gawd, please let it go all the way to the top. Exxoff, what is your carbon footprint?
May 7, 2007 5:47 PM | Reply | Permalink
You cannot beat oil companies for corruption and for undermining democracy everywhere they go. Sounds like in Alaska they were almost trampled by eager recipients in government.
Code word: 'face' the music.
May 7, 2007 6:05 PM | Reply | Permalink
Rep. Victor Kohring of Wasilla, Pete Kott of Eagle River and Bruce Weyhrauch of Juneau, were arrested Friday.
www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/05/04/AR2007050401911.html?hpid=moreheadlines
Kohring was charged with extortion, attempted extortion, bribery and conspiracy. Kott and Weyhrauch each face four counts, including extortion, bribery and wire or mail fraud.
A combined trial for Kott and Weyhrauch was set for July 9 in Anchorage. A trial date was not set for Kohring.
code word: "mine" . . as in vengeance is yours mine and ours
May 7, 2007 6:15 PM | Reply | Permalink
This is one reason I don't buy the argument that, "this is how business is done," when trying to defend corrupt practices abroad, such as in the Kazakhstan cases. (James Giffen for one example)
The truth is that they would rather do business this way.
May 7, 2007 6:43 PM | Reply | Permalink
I have said it before, and I will say it again:
This country is being run by a mafia. There's no other word for it.
May 7, 2007 8:02 PM | Reply | Permalink
Toadman is asking the most important questions of all, and people are missing it entirely.
Do we really think habeas corpus and the Bill of Rights could be erased without a bi-partisan elite concensus?
The Democrats have been offering token resistance and then rolling over for years. Some more than others.
A few noble Democrats have been reform Democrats like Carter, Wellstone, Bill Bradley, Dr Dean and John Edwards. They have stood up for what is right, and treated like dirt by the party hacks.
Others have been Lieberman or Vichy Democrats and given political cover for all manner of Republican crimes.
The late Walter Karp, an editor at Harper's, laid out the dynamics of the hack vs reformer conflict. In "Indispensible Enemies" he shows how the hacks in both parties work in collusion to keep reformers out of power.
After he talks about dummy candidates and thrown elections you have a much fuller set of tools for understanding how politicians play keep away with social progress.
May 7, 2007 8:25 PM | Reply | Permalink
"This country is being run by a mafia. There's no other word for it."
The Mafia figures I've met have had a lot more respect for American democracy than these assclowns.
May 7, 2007 11:25 PM | Reply | Permalink
Hey all, I'm an Alaskan studying out-of-state. But I just heard from my Mom back home that they are reporting that Senator B is Ted Stevens. Also, it is being treated appropriately as big news, which I think is some great news.
May 8, 2007 1:00 AM | Reply | Permalink
Alex, just to clarify, the Alaska news media are reporting that Senator B is BEN Stevens (son of Ted). So far, this scandal involves only the Alaska state legislature and not the Alaska Congressional delegation.
May 8, 2007 2:19 AM | Reply | Permalink
The various Godfathers around the USA "serve at the pleasure of the President".
May 8, 2007 9:06 AM | Reply | Permalink