Judge links Ben Stevens to FBI probe

A federal judge has linked former Alaska Senate President Ben Stevens to an FBI corruption probe.

At the same time, a federal prosecutor revealed there are “multiple, ongoing nonpublic investigations” related to the ongoing inquiry into ties between Alaska lawmakers and the oil industry. Stevens is the son of U.S. Sen. Ted Stevens, himself the target of a widening FBI probe.

Investigations have so far resulted in one criminal conviction, of former state Rep. Tom Anderson, R-Anchorage, and indictments of former Reps. Bruce Weyhrauch, R-Juneau; Pete Kott, R-Eagle River, and Vic Kohring, R-Wasilla.

Weyhrauch and Kott are scheduled to go to trial Sept. 5 in Anchorage.

The Ben Stevens connection turned up in a legal filing in the Weyhrauch case, in which U.S. District Court Judge John Sedwick acknowledged Stevens’ role.

Sedwick noted that the identification of Stevens had “already been reported in the press,” based on comparing the money paid by former VECO Corp. CEO Bill Allen and Stevens’ financial disclosure reports.

The indictments of Weyhrauch and Kott accuse them of having conspired with Allen and an unidentified “State Senator A” to advocate for an oil tax plan supported by VECO, an oil field services company, and the state’s oil producers. In other court documents, such as Allen’s indictment, Senator A is listed as Senator B.

“The evidence which the United States will present at trial will show that State Senator A is, in fact, Ben Stevens,” Sedwick wrote.

Stevens, Weyhrauch, Kott and Kohring were among legislators whose Capitol offices were searched by FBI agents last year. Stevens, who did not run for re-election, has not been indicted.

—The Associated Press