May 5, 2007

• Federal Indictments

  Some Alaskans are viewing the stories all over the front page of today’s Anchorage Daily News as “bad news,” showing our state in a negative light.  That’s not how I see it, nor am I as surprised as some people appear to be.  We have been waiting for this since last July when FBI agents raided the offices and residences of several state legislators.

  Yesterday in Juneau Representative Vic Kohring of Wasilla:
  
  [photo credit Brian Wallace]

  …Pete Kott of Eagle River;
  
  [photo credit Chris Miller / The Associated Press]

  …and Bruce Weyhrauch (left) of Juneau, who has been reportedly drinking and/or drugging more heavily than usual of late, and may have either attempted suicide or staged a failed disappearing act last month,
  
  [photo credit Chris Miller / The Associated Press]

  were arraigned on indictments for extortion, bribery, wire fraud and mail fraud.

  The charges against all three involve the Legislature’s consideration last year of [former governor Frank "the bank"] Murkowski’s gas pipeline agreement and a petroleum production tax. Kott, a former House speaker from Eagle River, is accused of seeking and accepting bribes to push positions favored by executives of a company that is not named in the indictment. Weyhrauch traded votes for the promise of a job, according to the charges.

  In a press release issued in Washington, D.C., late today, Assistant Attorney General Alice S. Fisher said the indictments accuse the three defendants of selling “their offices in Alaska’s state House to an influential energy company in exchange for cash payments, loans, jobs for relatives and the promise of future employment. … We will work hard to bring to justice elected officials who betray their duty to their constituents.”

  The company is referred to throughout both indictments as “Company A” and is described as a privately owned company that “provided services to the energy, resources and process industries” and “took an active interest” in the Legislature. Amy Menard, an attorney for Veco Corp., said this afternoon that Anchorage-based Veco is that company.
  _ _ _ _ _

  The indictment against Kohring accused him of accepting between $2,100 and $2,600 in several cash payments from the Veco executives and soliciting them for a $17,000 loan to cover a credit-card debt that was turning into an embarrassment.

  During a March 4, 2006, meeting in Veco’s hotel accommodations — Suite 604 in the Westmark Baranof Juneau Hotel — the chief executive, Allen, told the vice president, Smith, that he had “just given ‘a thousand’ to Kohring and that, as a result of the payment, Kohring ‘would kiss our ass,’” the indictment says.

  In subsequent conversations, Kohring told the company executives he was offering his services and could “be an information source” and “lobby on (their) behalf,” the charges say.

  On March 30, during a meeting in Suite 604, Kohring told the Veco executives about the $17,000 credit-card debt that he could not pay, the indictment says. He asked “about the possibility of receiving a job or some sort of work with Company A or securing a $17,000 loan” from the company’s chief executive, Allen. They discussed how to structure the transaction “to avoid any ‘red flags’ with the Alaska Public Offices Commission,” the state’s campaign finance watchdog, according to the charges.

  In return, Kohring promised to try to steer his colleagues to support the version of the oil tax legislation supported by Veco, the indictment says. The company later hired a relative of Kohring, and the Wasilla Republican told the company vice president, Smith, to contact him again if he needed legislative help, the charges say.

  The indictment against Kott and Weyhrauch says Kott asked executives of the unnamed company for money and a job after he left the Legislature. Weyhrauch, an attorney, asked for a job doing legal work, the indictment says.

  On about Sept. 26, 2005, the indictment says, Kott called an unnamed company vice president and said, “I need a job.”

  The vice president replied, “You’ve got a job; get us a pipeline,” the indictment says.

  In another conversation later that day, Kott told the same executive, “I just want to be the warden in Barbados,” the indictment says. Veco, the unnamed company in the indictment, was building a private prison in Barbados.

  After the Legislature convened in January 2006, the conversations between Kott and the company officials about the gas line deal continued, the indictment says. In a telephone call on Jan. 10, the indictment says, Kott called the chief executive, Allen, and told him, “I’m going to get this f—— gas line done so I can get out of here.”

  The executive replied, “Get the gas, get the gas,” to which Kott responded, “That’s my commitment to you, so … I’ll get her done.”

  The company preferred the version of the oil tax originally proposed by Gov. Murkowski, the indictment says. It called for a 20 percent production tax rate matched by a 20 percent tax credit for expenses of finding new oil supplies.

  Among other things, Kott is accused of trying to pressure another legislator into supporting the company’s position on the oil tax by placing a “hold” on a bill that was important to that lawmaker.

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  The indictment also refers to an unnamed “State Senator A.” In a June 5, 2006, telephone call between that senator and the company’s chief executive, the indictment says, the two agreed that Weyhrauch’s support for the company’s oil tax stance occurred because of the executive’s offer of legal work, the indictment says. State Senator A is described as someone who left office in January.  [psssst... guys... uh, it's BEN STEVENS, you know, old Senator Ted's son?]

  According to the Justice Department press release, Kohring, Kott and Weyhrauch, if convicted, would face a maximum 20 years in prison and $250,000 fines on the extortion counts, a maximum 10 years and $250,000 fines on the bribery count, and five years and $250,000 fines on a conspiracy count. Kott and Weyhrauch also could could face 20 years and $250,000 fines on the mail and wire fraud counts.

  Okay, Xanga, this isn’t my post for today.  I have a response to some comments from yesterday, but it took the back burner briefly because I just had to share this.  I was as eager to share it with you as Greyfox was to share it with me when he phoned this morning.  As I said, we have been waiting since last July for this shoe to drop.  Can you imagine how suspenseful those months have been for Kohring, Kott and Weyhrauch?  I can’t help wondering what’s running through the minds of Stevens pere et fils right now.

  • 3:17 pm
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