Court records: Alaskan congressman took unreported gifts
Once again, an Alaskan legislator is in hot water over allegedly receiving gifts that were not listed on his financial disclosure forms.
Court documents filed leading up to the sentencing of Bill Allen allege that Rep. Don Young (R-Alaska) received as much as $200,000 over a period of 13 years, the Associated Press reported this weekend. Allen and his oil company VECO Corp. were central figures in former Alaska Sen. Ted Steven's (R) corruption trial.
The court filing says Young received as much as $15,000 a year from VECO to pay for the congressman's annual pig roast fundraiser from 1993 to 2006. It also alleges that VECO vice president Rick Smith used Allen's credit card to buy a $1,000 set of golf clubs for Young.
Young did not disclose any of the gifts on his personal financial disclosures, although he did disclose $77,000 in gifts to his legal defense fund on his 2009 disclosure, mostly from Alaskan companies. AP reports that Young amended his campaign finance records to record that he reimbursed Allen about $38,000 for expenses relating to the fundraisers.
Allen and Smith are expected to be sentenced this week. The two pleaded guilty to bribery, conspiracy and tax charges in 2007, but the sentencing was repeatedly postponed as the two cooperated with federal officials investigating lawmakers. Allen was the key witness in Stevens' trial. Stevens was found guilty of failing to disclose gifts but the charges were later thrown out due to overreaching by prosecutors.
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