The last defendant in a troubled federal investigation into political corruption in Alaska on Monday pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor offense as part of a deal to avoid federal prosecution, Reuters reported.
In May 2007 state Rep. Bruce Weyhrauch (R) was one of three state lawmakers charged in connection with a scandal involving oilfield service company VECO. Weyhrauch was accused of trading votes on 2006 oil-tax legislation in exchange for the promise of a job with an oil-services firm. The investigation also led to the trial and conviction of U.S. Sen. Ted Stevens (R-Alaska). The conviction eventually was overturned.
On Oct. 15, 2007, Weyhrauch was convicted of bribery, extortion, conspiracy and mail fraud. He was sentenced to five years in prison.
His Monday guilty plea was part of a plea agreement on additional charges filed Friday in state court in Juneau. As part of deal, federal prosecutors will drop four felony charges against him.
Weyhruach was caught up in the wide-ranging probe that snared Stevens, whose conviction was overturned on charges that the prosecution withheld evidence that might have helped the defense. And last week, an appeals court overturned the conviction of Victor Kohring, a Republican who served in the Alaska House, again saying the prosecution withheld evidence. The court said the trial judge in the Kohring case, John Sedwick of the District of Alaska, should have allowed evidence that Bill Allen, who had been charged with offering bribes to lawmakers, had sexual relations with teenage girls. Allen had cooperated with prosecutors.
Alaska’s senior senator, Republican Lisa Murkowski last week pointedly questioned Attorney General Eric Holder about whether the Justice Department had decided not to pursue charges that Allen had abused a 15-year-old girl because he had cooperated with the federal government. Holder denied the allegations, but Murkowski vowed to pursue the matter further.
