Top lobbyist admits scheme

Asked by U.S. District Judge John Sedwick how he pleaded to a felony charge of conspiracy, Bobrick answered in a clear, steady voice: "Guilty, your honor."

For years, Bobrick has stood out in Anchorage as the lobbyist claiming the longest list of private clients with city business. Some of the biggest players in the development and retail worlds have hired him over the years, including JL Properties, Wal-Mart Stores and Marlow Development Corp. This year, he had five clients, but all say they have dropped him in recent days and weeks because of his legal troubles.

"I've been a professional lobbyist for the last 20 years," Bobrick said at Wednesday's court hearing.

He accepted responsibility for a scheme to funnel payments to Anderson through a sham company so the legislator would do the bidding of a private corrections company. Details of the company in court filings match a description of Cornell Companies Inc. of Houston, Texas, which has tried and failed to win support for a private prison in Alaska.

The conspiracy to commit extortion, bribery and money laundering started in July 2004 and continued until March 2005, charging documents say. In all, $26,000 changed hands, court papers say.

Bobrick, 52, now is cooperating with the government. He has agreed to testify against Anderson, who was indicted in December on seven charges including bribery, extortion and money laundering. Anderson has pleaded not guilty.

Bobrick will be sentenced after Anderson's trial, which is scheduled to begin June 25. Bobrick faces 2 to 2 1/2 years under sentencing guidelines, but that can be reduced based on his cooperation.

"The judge was pretty clear today. It's a serious crime. He might give you a sentence that is more than the government recommends. That is a risk that Bill decided to take because he wants to do the right thing. He is really trying to move forward," said Doug Pope, Bobrick's defense lawyer.

At one point in the hearing, as the judge questioned Bobrick on whether he was suffering from any condition that could impair his judgment, the accused man said he was being treated for depression. He said he takes medication and receives counseling, but didn't feel his condition affected his ability to go forward.

RELEASED ON BOND

Anchorage Assemblyman Allan Tesche sat next to Bobrick's sister Elizabeth in the courtroom. When the 30-minute hearing ended, prosecutor Joe Bottini huddled for a moment with Bobrick.

Tesche shook Bobrick's hand but wouldn't talk to reporters. Elizabeth Bobrick said she didn't want to be interviewed either. She came from her home in Connecticut to be with her brother, Pope said.

Bobrick was stone-faced as he walked out of the courtroom and into another area for processing. He didn't acknowledge a request for comment.

Essentially, Bobrick now must be ready for "continuous cooperation with the government," Pope said. "It's out of my hands."

Bobrick was released on a $5,000 unsecured bond. With permission of a federal probation officer, he'll be allowed to travel out of state, including to visit his wife, a medical student in Minnesota.

According to court papers, an FBI informant working for the corrections company paid $24,000 to Bobrick's Pacific Publishing. Bobrick gave $10,828 to Anderson and kept the rest, the documents say. Anderson later complained he wasn't getting enough and was paid another $2,000 by the government informant, according to the indictment against him.

Bobrick created Pacific Publishing to ostensibly publish a Web site about Alaska government and politics that Anderson would write for. But in reality, the company was just a way to get money to Anderson and hide the real source, court papers say.

In a secretly recorded conversation on July 21, 2004, Bobrick told the informant that he and Anderson were "pitching a bunch of people" to try to get money for Anderson. If the corrections company paid up, Anderson would be "our boy in Juneau," Bobrick told the informant.

Between August 2004 and March 2005, Bobrick was aware of "multiple official acts" that Anderson took to benefit the government informant, the charging document said.

CLIENTS CUT TIES

All five clients Bobrick worked for this year have cut their professional ties to him. They are: Marlow Development Corp.; garbage hauler Alaska Waste; Lantech, a surveying company; Cook Inlet Housing Authority; and mall developer P.O'B. Montgomery.

"You need to have the confidence of elected officials that you are dealing with them on the straight up," developer Marc Marlow said. He had turned to Bobrick for help on a number of projects, including a tax break for the renovated McKinley Tower downtown. He said he severed his relationship with Bobrick in April after news broke about the coming guilty plea.

Lantech vice president Tom Dreyer said the company gave Bobrick the benefit of the doubt in recent months, but in the past few days saw what was coming. The company had hired him to monitor the Anchorage Assembly, which has been rewriting the city's land use code.

Bobrick worked as a technical consultant to the housing authority on a tax break it just won for an 80-unit development in Muldoon, said Amy Burnett, a spokeswoman for Cook Inlet Housing. In mid-April, it canceled its contract, she said.

Alaska Waste inherited the Bobrick lobbying contract when it bought the assets of Waste Management in May 2005, said Bobby Cox, general manager of Alaska Waste. But now its relationship with him is over, too.

Daily News reporter Lisa Demer can be reached at ldemer@adn.com and 257-4390.