Filing ties lawmaker to corruption case

October 24, 2009|Rachel D’oro, Associated Press

ANCHORAGE - Documents filed in federal court directly link US Representative Don Young to a wide-ranging investigation of corruption in Alaska for the first time.

The state’s only representative in the House is identified as “United States Representative A’’ in the documents filed in connection with the sentencing next week of Bill Allen, a key figure in the corruption probes of state lawmakers and former US senator Ted Stevens.

The filing late Wednesday alleges Young, a 19-term Republican, illegally received gifts totaling up to nearly $200,000 over 13 years from VECO Corp., Allen’s now-defunct oil field services company.

Young’s attorney did not return a call seeking comment yesterday, and spokeswoman Meredith Kenny said the congressman’s office could not comment.

According to the document, Allen and Rick Smith, former VECO vice president, authorized corporate funds to pay up to $15,000 a year for expenses associated with Young’s annual pig roast fund-raiser.

Allen also alleges in his 2007 “confession of additional criminal activity’’ that Smith used Allen’s credit card to buy a set of golf clubs valued at $1,000 that were given to Young.

Young has been under investigation by federal authorities for more than two years, but the filing is the first related public document from the government. Young has denied any wrongdoing and repeatedly declined to speak on the matter. His campaign has spent more than $1 million on his legal expenses.

After the federal investigation surfaced, Young amended his campaign finance reports to show he reimbursed Allen about $38,000 for fund-raiser expenses.

Allen, 72, and Smith, 64, are scheduled to be sentenced for their 2007 guilty pleas to bribery, conspiracy, and tax charges. Charges against Stevens were thrown out in April.