Alaska Legislators Indicted
Two things about this press release about federal indictments of three Alaska state legislators seem odd. There is nothing odd about politicians being arrested or indicted, unforturnately it is all too common and is more than disappointing. Why this was not posted with four other May 4th press releases at the DOJ’s website and instead pubished by a press release website is odd.
Just a little PSA on this blog to help expose the indictments and hope these reports encourage people to annoy their representatives about matters like this. Get on their backs about all their ethically challenged colleagues. Mentioning their colleagues might keep them on the phone longer and make them feel superior. It may provide an incentive to check up on the others. Ya, I know, that’s crazy talk. Here’s the release.
Stanford Matthews
MoreWhat.com
Three Current and Former Alaska State Legislators Indicted on Public Corruption Charges
WASHINGTON, May 4 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ — A current elected member
of the Alaska State House of Representatives and two former members,
including a one-time Speaker of the House, have been indicted and arrested
on multiple charges arising out of a federal investigation into public
corruption in the state of Alaska, Assistant Attorney General Alice S.
Fisher of the Criminal Division announced today.
The indictments charge Victor H. Kohring, a current member of the
Alaska State House of Representatives first elected in 1994; former Alaska
House member Bruce Weyrauch, an attorney and member of the Alaska House
from 2002 to January 2007; and Peter Kott, a member of the House from 1992
to 2007 who served as Speaker from Jan. 1, 2003 to Dec. 31, 2004. All three
defendants were arrested today in Juneau, Alaska.
A four-count indictment returned by a federal grand jury in Anchorage
on May 3, 2007 and unsealed today charges Kohring with one count of
extortion under color of official right, one count of bribery, one count of
attempted extortion under color of official right, and one count of
conspiracy. The indictment alleges that Kohring solicited and received
financial benefits from an entity identified in the indictment as “Company
A,” and that in exchange for those benefits, Kohring performed official
acts as a member of the Alaska state legislature to further the company’s
business interests.
Specifically, the indictment alleges that Company A, a multinational
corporation that provided services to the energy, resource and process
industries and to the public sector, had significant financial interests in
contracts from oil producers in Alaska, natural gas pipeline legislation,
and a legislative proposal called the “petroleum production tax,” or PPT,
that would change the taxation of oil production.
The indictment alleges that in a series of meetings, Kohring corruptly
solicited, demanded and accepted from the company’s chief executive officer
and a vice president a series of things of value-including $2,100 to $2,600
in cash payments and a $3,000 job for a relative of his-and also solicited,
but did not receive, a $17,000 loan to pay credit card debt. Official acts
taken in return included, according to the indictment: voting in favor of
the PPT bill supported by Company A; lobbying other elected officials to
support versions of the PPT bill; and providing official support for the
natural gas pipeline legislation and the PPT bill.
A seven-count indictment returned by a federal grand jury in Anchorage
on May 3, 2007, and unsealed today charges Kott and Weyhrauch with one
count of conspiracy to commit extortion under color of official right,
bribery, and honest services mail and wire fraud. The indictment also
charges Kott with one count of extortion under color of official right, one
count of bribery, and one count of honest services wire fraud, and charges
Weyhrauch with one count of attempted extortion under color of official
right, one count of bribery, and one count of honest services mail fraud.
The indictment alleges that Kott and Weyhrauch each corruptly solicited
and/or received multiple financial benefits from Company A in exchange for
each legislator’s agreement to perform official acts as a member of the
Alaska state legislature to further the company’s business interests.
According to the indictment, Kott corruptly solicited, and the company
agreed to provide, employment for Kott after he left the state legislature,
as well as other things of value. At a meeting in April 2006 with the
company’s vice president and, via teleconference, the CEO, Kott said he had
been successful in getting other state legislators to support the oil tax
legislation favored by Company A, and that he believed the bill would pass.
Kott allegedly said in a meeting with the company’s CEO and vice president
on May 7, 2006, that he had worked to kill an amendment to the PPT bill
because Company A’s CEO told him to do so. According to the indictment,
Kott said, “I had to get ‘er done. So I had to come back and face this man
right here [pointing to the CEO]. I had to cheat, steal, beg, borrow and
lie.” In June 2006, Kott allegedly worked with Weyhrauch to seek an
adjournment of a special session of the House before lawmakers could vote
on an amendment to the PPT bill that the company did not support. In return
for these and other actions, Kott demanded and Company A-through the CEO
and vice president-provided $8,993 in payments, $2,750 in expenses paid to
a polling company that worked for Kott’s re-election campaign, and a future
contract for Kott as a lobbyist for the company.
Weyhrauch allegedly solicited employment from Company A after he left
the State House. Weyhrauch allegedly told the company’s executives that he
would support their position on the PPT bill. After mistakenly voting the
“wrong way” on an amendment that the company and representatives of three
other oil companies did not support, Weyhrauch changed his vote on
instructions from Kott and the company’s CEO.
The indictment alleges that Weyhrauch, like Kott, voted in favor of
versions of the PPT bill supported by Company A and the three other
companies, lobbied other lawmakers for their support, and offered
assistance to Company A and its executives by providing official support
for the natural gas pipeline and the PPT bill.
“These two indictments allege that the defendants sold 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,”
said Assistant Attorney General Alice S. Fisher. “There is no room for
bribery and extortion at any level of government — federal, state or
local. We will work hard to bring to justice elected officials who betray
their duty to their constituents. I thank the federal prosecutors on this
case and the team of agents from the FBI and IRS for their dedication to
this investigation.”
“The citizens of Alaska deserve upstanding and ethical public officials
serving in their state legislature. The public servants indicted today
conspired to perform official acts in exchange for monetary and other
financial gain to the detriment of Alaska, its economy, and its citizenry,”
said Assistant Director Kenneth W. Kaiser, FBI Criminal Investigative
Division. “The FBI will continue to work with our local, state and federal
partners to combat public corruption across all levels of government. No
corrupt public servant is exempt from FBI scrutiny.”
If convicted, Kohring, Kott and Weyhrauch each face a maximum penalty
of 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine on the extortion counts; a
maximum penalty of 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine on the bribery
count; and a maximum penalty of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine on
the conspiracy count. Kott and Weyhrauch also each face a maximum penalty
of 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine on the honest services mail and
wire fraud counts.
An indictment is merely an accusation and defendants are presumed
innocent until proven guilty at trial beyond a reasonable doubt.
This case is being prosecuted by trial attorneys Nicholas A. Marsh and
Edward P. Sullivan of the Criminal Division’s Public Integrity Section,
headed by Chief William M. Welch, II, and Assistant U.S. Attorneys Joseph
W. Bottini and James A. Goeke from the District of Alaska. The case is
being investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Internal
Revenue Service Criminal Investigative Division.
SOURCE U.S. Department of Justice
Related links:
http://www.USDOJ.gov