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Kohring neither defiant nor remorseful

Jurors decide ex-legislator took money to sway oil tax

By LISA DEMER and KYLE HOPKINS
Anchorage Daily News

Published: November 1st, 2007 04:01 PM
Last Modified: December 21st, 2007 07:53 AM

Less than an hour after a federal jury convicted former state Rep. Vic Kohring of public corruption charges on Thursday, he apologized to the people of Alaska for the stress and trauma of the investigation and trial.

Feds 3 for 3; legislators expect more busts 1198255992301154

JUNEAU -- Word of Vic Kohring's conviction spread fast Thursday afternoon through the state Capitol. Legislators and aides stopped one another in the halls. "Hey, did you hear the verdict?" said one. "Guilty."

No one was surprised at the conviction of the former Republican state representative from Wasilla. Some state legislators were paying closer attention to the trial then others. But all of them seemed to agree that you can't be caught on tape by the FBI taking Bill Allen's cash, then asking what you can do in return, and expect to walk away free.

Many in the Capitol said they expect more indictments to come, now that the federal prosecutors are three for three on their conviction rate. One top aide said if he got three straight bites at the fishing hole he would stick his line right back in.

"It's going to be very difficult for someone to take one of these cases before a jury in Alaska and not get a conviction," said Anchorage Democratic Sen. Bill Wielechowski, referring to the mood among the Alaska public.

Kohring was working as a state legislator in the Capitol as recently as May. Senate President Lyda Green represents the same constituents as Kohring in the Wasilla area. So she'd also see him often at local meetings and events.

"I'm very sad," Green said. "You just think about the family and him and all the friends. It's very disappointing. It kind of reminds you that you have to really take care of your actions."

Green's name came up at the Kohring trial. Federal prosecutors said Kohring twice decided against running for Green's Senate seat at the request of Veco chief Bill Allen. Kohring was convicted of taking bribes from Allen.

Green said that was news to her when it came out at the trial. Green said she thinks that Veco maybe didn't want Kohring to challenge her because it's a strong Republican legislative team in the Valley. Kohring would have had to give up his House seat to run against her, potentially putting his seat at risk.

Veco was a heavy campaign contributor for decades to a large share of the pro-development Republicans in the Legislature. Green, who received Veco contributions, said she never itemized where contributions came from. Green said she votes her conscience and Veco never asked her for anything in return for contributions.

Kohring was seen as an odd duck by many of his colleagues. He slept in his office and called for eliminating half the state's laws and turning the governor's mansion into a museum featuring exhibits of "Alaska's socialist past."

But Green and others noted what was widely considered his strength: constituent work. Kohring was known for walking his district, getting to know people and spending long hours working on their personal issues with state government.

Gov. Sarah Palin's Wasilla home is in Kohring's district. She sent out a statement saying Kohring "not only betrayed the trust of those who elected him, but the trust of those closest to him."

Nikiski Republican Rep. Mike Chenault said that, while he does feel kind of sorry for Kohring, he made his choices and deserves punishment. Chenault was also frustrated that Kohring and others convicted of corruption have also made it much harder to be a legislator.

"We're all conceived as being corrupt," he said.

Anchorage Democratic Sen. Johnny Ellis said he was glad Kohring had been convicted. He was clearly guilty, said Ellis, who watched the recordings made public during the trial. Ellis said this, the third conviction of a legislator, should be "the third ring of the wake-up call" for lawmakers.

Ellis said evidence in the trials showed that the system was broken even worse than he had suspected. Ellis said he always knew Veco was doing dirty work for oil companies through all their campaign contributions.

"But I didn't realize the political prostitution going on," he said.

The major oil companies have denied knowing about Veco's illegal activities. But Ellis said the company's lobbyists in Juneau at least had to have a sense of what was going on with Veco.

Anchorage Democratic Rep. Les Gara said the corruption explains some of the "odd behavior" he noticed last year as amendments were considered on the oil tax bill passed.

The Legislature is currently in special session considering raising the oil tax, largely because of the corruption.

Legislators didn't think Kohring's conviction would change the debate, since it was widely expected. But they were wondering what's next.

"I don't think we've seen the last conviction," said Kenai Republican Sen. Tom Wagoner. "I don't think we've seen the last person who is going to get indicted."

Find Sean Cockerham online at adn.com/contact/scockerham or call 257-4344.

'Little fish' Kohring gets sympathy 1198255992399648

WASILLA -- People in Vic Kohring's corner of Alaska were in head-shaking mode Thursday afternoon.

Of course, they've been shaking their heads since the whole moving picture show hit town -- the grainy FBI video of him taking money from Veco pockets.

"He had plenty of income (from the state)," said cab driver Jeff May as his taxi's windshield wipers swept away a light drizzle. "He made mistakes. We all make mistakes. But he has no excuses. He made his bed and now he has to lie in it. Just like the rest of us who break the law."

That from a man who voted for Kohring twice.

"He even came to my house," May said. "I had a lot of faith in him. A lot of people had faith in him."

Over at the Midas shop, manager Jeff Wojtacha was a little more resigned to the jury decisions.

"All politicians do that stuff. He just got caught," Wojtacha said. "But I didn't think he would get convicted."

The shop manager said he voted for Kohring several times, but said he figures "it's been going on for years. The oil companies run the state anyway."

Wojtacha blamed the recent cases of political corruption on Alaska being such a young state: "We're going through now what most states went through 50 years ago."

Kohring was first elected in an anti-incumbent backlash in the Valley in 1994. Kohring, Sen. Lyda Green and former Rep. Scott Ogan all beat veteran Democrats. Voters sent Kohring back to Juneau six more times, and he usually won by a lopsided margin. He resigned this summer.

While practically no one contacted Thursday gave Kohring much credit for being the wisest lawmaker in Juneau, or for having the best money management skills, the people at Catherine's Nail Shop in Meta Rose Square were a little less harsh.

Owner Catherine Smith was applying lotion to Paula Sumner's legs. Sumner also had tissues between her toes, so maybe she was relaxed when she said, "I wasn't in the courtroom, so I didn't hear all the evidence. But I don't think it warranted a multi-million-dollar crime investigation.

"But he was wrong to take any compensation outside of his payroll."

Smith said: "He hurt himself more than anybody else. He should be fined, but not go to jail." Referring to the five-year sentence handed Anchorage Republican and former state representative Tom Anderson, she said, "Rapists get less time than that."

Smith's husband, Richard Smith, chimed in. "Yeah, those guys in the (U.S.) House and Senate are doing the real damage."

"He was just a little fish in a shark tank," Catherine Smith said.

Louane Write was trimming a little off the top for a customer at Great Clips and tended to agree with the crew at the nail shop.

"People have done worse," she said. "All this about not much money. They picked this guy and just reamed him."

Back at the Nail Shop, Sumner moved the subject a little more afield when she mentioned a decades-long debate: The capital should be in the Valley, where voters can keep an eye on the legislators.

"They wouldn't do that kind of stuff if it was out here," Sumner said.

Find Daily News reporter T.C. Mitchell online at adn.com/contact/tcmitchell or call 907-352-6716.

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But he stopped short of accepting responsibility for the crimes of bribery, conspiracy and attempted extortion -- crimes he now stands convicted of committing.

Kohring is on a tightrope. If he accepts blame now, he could spoil any appeal. But if he's defiant, prosecutors are sure to point that out when it's time to be sentenced.

"I expected this as a possible outcome and, as I said yesterday, I'm going to accept it and move on regardless," said Kohring, 49.

The 12-member jury convicted Kohring, a Wasilla Republican, on three of four counts, concluding that he sold his office to the oil-field service company Veco Corp. and former executives Bill Allen and Rick Smith, who pleaded guilty to bribery and conspiracy and cooperated with the government.

Jurors found that he conspired with Allen and Smith to push a new oil tax favored by North Slope oil producers through the Legislature in 2006, tried to extort them to pay his $17,000 credit card debt, and took bribes from them.

But jurors also issued one "not guilty" verdict. Kohring was acquitted of extorting money, and a summer job for his nephew, from Allen, Veco's former chief executive, and Smith, a former vice president.

Kohring's defense asserted that it was friendship, not greed and politics, that led Kohring to ask Allen and Smith for money and do Veco's bidding in Juneau.

The government says he knew what he was doing. Kohring "betrayed his oath of office and the people of Alaska when he deliberately and repeatedly took bribes in exchange for official acts," assistant attorney general Alice Fisher of the U.S. Justice Department in Washington, D.C., said in a written statement. She thanked the federal prosecutors and FBI agents.

As they left the Federal Building, jurors looked drained but relieved after roughly nine hours of deliberations over two days. Only a few would talk. They said they anguished over their decision.

One, who declined to be identified other than as "juror No. 8," said "they didn't get the sharks. They got the minnow."

Most felt sorry for Kohring and saw him as "a very sympathetic figure," said Alan Rowe, juror No. 12.

"The circumstances surrounding the case were tragic," said Rowe, a courier for Cal Worthington Ford who plays keyboard in a classic rock and soul band called Al and the Kaholics.

Kohring seemed like he really wanted what's best for Alaska but showed poor judgment when he got in cahoots with Veco executives, Rowe said.

Kohring couldn't get past the damning videotapes secretly filmed in Veco's suite in Juneau's Baranof Hotel and the telephone wiretaps.

But surprisingly, Rowe said, the most convincing FBI recording wasn't the one from March 30, 2006, in which Kohring is seen twice taking cash from Allen. Defense lawyer John Henry Browne's characterization of that scene as the "Easter egg incident" resonated with jurors, Rowe said. In the video, Allen tells Kohring the money is to be put in plastic Easter eggs and to help out with a Girl Scout uniform for his stepdaughter.

"We didn't want to implicate the little girl," Rowe said.

But jurors believed that Allen slipped Kohring $1,000 during a Feb. 23, 2006, dinner at the Juneau-area Island Pub, and that the money was a bribe, Rowe said. On a surveillance video less than two weeks later, Allen and Smith talk about the payment and how Kohring would now "kiss our ass."

On the conspiracy count, Rowe said, the strongest evidence came from a June 8, 2006, recording that jurors asked to see again during deliberations.

It was the last night of a special session on the oil tax, by then at a rate higher than Veco wanted. Kohring tells Allen he would have done what Veco wanted to upend the bill, even if it hurt him politically.

Jurors didn't think much of the allegation that Kohring was bribed when he secured a summer internship at Veco for his nephew, Rowe said. "We're all thinking, 'So what?' This is the way the world works."

Talking to a few reporters outside the courtroom doors just after the verdict, Kohring described the jurors as "good people" with the right intentions, and said he wanted to thank them for their hard work. He thanked the people of Alaska too, for his more than 12 years in office. He also wanted to say he was sorry.

"Just to apologize to these same people, including my family and friends, for the trauma they experienced, as I did, over the last 14 months, leading up to today," Kohring said.

His friend Fred James, who sat behind Kohring each day of the trial, said he thought Kohring was done in by pre-trial publicity, tried and convicted in the Daily News and on television. Asked if he agreed, Kohring said, "I think in part, yes."

Browne had tried to get the trial moved outside of Alaska, but U.S. District Judge John Sedwick rejected that. The judge questioned jurors extensively and excluded those who had already made up their minds.

Kohring and his lawyer walked downstairs to face a semicircle of microphones and TV cameras and answer more questions.

Does he still maintain his innocence?

"I'd rather not go there at this point," Kohring said.

Browne said they hadn't decided whether to appeal but had several possible points, including the fact that they hadn't been allowed to put on character witnesses.

"We have an outcome here that is difficult for me, of course," Kohring said. "But I've got a great future ahead of me and I'm looking forward to that future."

His wife, Tatiana, is supportive and they've been talking regularly, he said, though she couldn't be there for the trial. She lives near Portland, Ore.

Kohring said he didn't regret not taking a plea deal. There was never a reasonable offer anyway, Browne said.

After court on Thursday, prosecutor Joe Bottini took the unusual step of singling out prosecution witness Frank Prewitt, who has been working undercover for the FBI since 2004. Prewitt was a minor witness in the Kohring trial, but his work helped investigators get the evidence they needed for wiretaps on phones and bugs planted in Suite 604 at the Baranof.

While Browne called Prewitt a "sleazy lobbyist" in his closing argument Wednesday, Bottini said that's not how the government feels about him.

"Nothing can be further from the truth," Bottini said. Prewitt has done a "tremendous" job for the government, he said. "We owe him a lot, frankly."

Kohring was the third person convicted by a jury in the government's wide-ranging corruption scandal. It has yet to lose a case. Juries took about the same amount of time to convict the first two, ex-Reps. Pete Kott and Tom Anderson.

Judge Sedwick set Kohring's sentencing for Feb. 6. Prosecutors estimated that Kohring could be facing three to five years.

Find Lisa Demer online at adn.com/contact/ldemer or call 257-4390. Find Kyle Hopkins online at adn.com/contact/khopkins or call 257-4334.

Reaction from Juneau

• The FBI's and U.S. Justice Department's investigation into public corruption in Alaska continues. It's unclear when, or whether, additional charges will be filed, and officials will not discuss the investigation's targets. But at least two other current or former lawmakers have been identified in charging documents and testimony as committing illegal acts in cahoots with Veco officials: former state Sen. Ben Stevens and current Sen. John Cowdery, both Anchorage Republicans.

• Sentencing for former House Speaker Pete Kott, convicted of bribery, extortion and conspiracy in September, is set for Dec. 7. Kohring is the third former state representative convicted since the wide-ranging federal investigation of public corruption burst into view last August with the simultaneous searches of six state lawmakers' offices. So far:

• Former Rep. Tom Anderson, R-Anchorage, was convicted in July of bribery, money laundering and other charges for taking payoffs from a consultant.

• Former House Speaker Pete Kott, R-Eagle River, was convicted of bribery, extortion and conspiracy in September for his dealings with Veco executives on oil tax legislation last year.

• Former Rep. Bruce Weyhrauch, R-Juneau, was charged with bribery and other crimes for his dealings with Veco executives. He's awaiting trial while questions about evidence in his case are appealed.

• Former Veco CEO Bill Allen pleaded guilty to bribery and conspiracy for his dealing with Kott, Kohring, Weyhrauch and other lawmakers. He's awaiting sentencing.

• Former Veco vice president Rick Smith pleaded guilty to bribery and conspiracy for his dealing with Kott, Kohring, Weyhrauch and other lawmakers. He's awaiting sentencing.

• Former lobbyist Bill Bobrick, a longtime lobbyist on the city level, pleaded guilty to conspiracy for bribing Anderson. He's awaiting sentencing.