Bill Allen (corporate CEO) - The Alaska Political Investigation

The Alaska Political Investigation

On May 7, 2007 Allen, along with VECO's 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. The charges involved bribing Alaska lawmakers to vote in favor of an oil tax law favored by the VECO that was the subject of vigorous debate during the regular and two special sessions of the Alaska Legislature in 2006 Bill Allen's testimony, at the trial of his former friend, Alaska Senator Ted Stevens, helped secure Stevens' conviction, in U.S. District Court on charges of felonious corruption. Bill Allen was convicted and sentenced to 3 years in Prison and fined $750,000.00.

Later, it emerged that Allen might have perjured himself at trial. During a review of the case triggered by allegations of prosecutorial misconduct, investigators for the United States Department of Justice discovered a previously undocumented interview between Allen and prosecutors. In this interview, Allen stated that the fair-market value of the repairs to Stevens' house was around $80,000—far less than the $250,000 he testified to at trial. Moreover, Allen said in the interview that he didn't recall talking to Bob Persons, a friend of Stevens, regarding the repair bill for Stevens' house. This directly contradicted Allen's testimony at trial, where he claimed Stevens had asked him to give Persons a note Stevens had sent asking for a bill for the repair work. At trial, Allen said Persons had told him the note shouldn't be taken seriously because "Ted's just covering his ass". The notes of this interview were never given to the defense, as required by U.S. criminal law. The discovery of this interview, was cited by U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder in his decision to move to dismiss Stevens' indictment before sentencing—effectively vacating his conviction. "I have determined that it is in the interest of justice to dismiss the indictment and not proceed with a new trial," said Holder.