Alaska Sen. Stevens Indicted in Corruption Probe

A figure in Alaska politics since before it became a state, Stevens, 84, has also been dogged by a federal investigation into whether he pushed for fishing legislation that also benefited his son, an Alaska lobbyist.

From May 1999 to August 2007, prosecutors said Stevens concealed "his continuing receipt of hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of things of value from a private corporation." The indictment released Tuesday said the items included: home improvements to his vacation home in Alaska, including a new first floor, garage, wraparound deck, plumbing, electrical wiring; as well as car exchanges, a Viking gas grill, furniture and tools.

Prosecutors said Stevens "took multiple steps to continue" receiving things from oil services company VECO Corp., and its founder, Bill Allen. At the time, the indictment says, Allen and other VECO employees were soliciting Stevens for "multiple official actions ... knowing that Stevens could and did use his official position and his office on behalf of VECO during that same time period."

VECO's requests included funding and other aid for the oil services company's projects and partnerships in Pakistan and Russia. It also included federal grants from several agencies -- as well as help in building a national gas pipeline in Alaska's North Slope Region, according to the indictment filed in U.S. District Court in Washington.

In a news conference at the Justice Department, Acting Assistant Attorney General Matthew Friedrich said that VECO, its employees and contractors provided architectural design help for renovations to Stevens' home, including helping to lift it off its foundation to install a new first floor.

The 7-count indictment -- returned by a federal grand jury in Washington, D.C. -- comes nearly one year to the day after federal agents raided Stevens' home in Girdwood, a resort town about 40 miles south of Anchorage.

Anchorage Mayor Mark Begich, a Democrat, is challenging Stevens for his seat this fall.

"In my personal finances, in good times and bad, I've been an open book," Begich says to the camera in his first TV ad, according to Politico. "It's time to end the secret deals for special interests and the special favors for elected officials."

Stevens' Washington office was closed and not answering phone calls, and a spokesman in Alaska declined to answer questions, Politico reported.

Stevens is undoubtedly the most powerful politician in Alaska's 50 year history of statehood, but his relationships with contractors and lobbyists have come under intense scrutiny over the past year, according to Politico. His son Ben has also been swept up in a corruption scandal.

Stevens, the first sitting U.S. senator to face federal indictment since 1993, is expected to be allowed to turn himself in once a summons has been issued. His attorney learned of the indictments through a phone call earlier Tuesday, Friedrich said.

Friedrich said an investigation into public corruption in Alaska that began in 2004 has resulted in seven convictions including that of Allen, a former VECO vice president, a lobbyist and several politicians.