Bill Allen, a central figure in a corruption scandal that rocked Alaska politics, has died. He was 85.<\/p>\n
Allen’s death was reported by Alaska media, citing a brief death announcement on the website for a Colorado funeral home, which said Allen died on June 29. A person who answered the phone there on Wednesday declined to provide more details.<\/p>\n
Allen was CEO of the oil services company VECO Corp., which did contracting work for oil producers. He also was a former publisher of the now-defunct Anchorage Times newspaper. In 2009, he was sentenced to three years in prison and fined $750,000 on charges including bribery related to efforts to win support for legislation favored by the company. He served a shorter period.<\/p>\n
Sentencing for Allen and a former VECO vice president was delayed more than two years as they cooperated with federal prosecutors in cases against elected officials.<\/p>\n
Allen at sentencing said he thought he could do good in pushing tax legislation that was favorable to oil companies.<\/p>\n
The FBI approached him in 2006 with plans to prosecute. Agents showed him a videotape of him interacting with a legislator in a Juneau hotel room.<\/p>\n
“I could tell I was half drunk and I didn’t like what I looked at,” he said. He said he decided to quit drinking and to cooperate with investigators.<\/p>\n
“I went over the line,” he said.<\/p>\n
Allen resigned as VECO chairman after his plea agreement. The company also was sold.<\/p>\n
Allen also was a star witness in the government’s case against U.S. Sen. Ted Stevens, a one-time friend.<\/p>\n
Stevens was charged with failing to report gifts, including renovations by Allen’s company to Stevens’ home in Girdwood. A jury verdict against Stevens was set aside and the indictment dismissed amid charges of prosecutorial conduct. But by then, he had lost a 2008 bid for reelection. Stevens died in 2010.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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