Bill Weimar, who built a lucrative business in Alaska working with criminals, was sentenced to federal prison Wednesday, a convicted felon.

Weimar, 68, tall and silver-haired, his voice faltering at times, stood before a federal judge and said he did wrong. He has admitted funneling $20,000 in 2004 to help a state legislative candidate, knowing that if elected the candidate would support his interest in building a private prison.

"This is my fault. I did this. Nobody made me do it. I had the means to do it. I went ... and got the cash. I sent it through the mails," Weimar told U.S. District John Sedwick. "I committed a crime."

The judge ordered Weimar to serve six months in federal prison, then another six months on home detention and two years probation. He also must pay a sizable fine of $75,000, which is more than either the prosecution or the federal probation office recommended and above what federal guidelines call for.

"It was the kind of offense that does great damage to our community because ... it allows for the corruption of a public process that we all really depend upon," Sedwick said.

Weimar started and owned Allvest Inc., which operated the state's only chain of private halfway houses, provided drug treatment, and ran other services including animal control. In 1998, he sold five halfway houses to Cornell Corrections Inc. and, the next year, retired to Montana. But he retained an interest worth $5.5 million in a private prison, if one were ever built here.

Five years after he left Alaska, Weimar sent money to a political consultant to cover the unnamed candidate's campaign debt.

When confronted by federal authorities, Weimar quickly admitted his guilt and cooperated with the investigation, defense lawyer David Bukey of Seattle noted to the judge.

He told investigators what he knew about the candidate and the candidate's political consultant, and provided follow-up documents when asked to, Bukey said.

"It is regrettable, ironic, sad and it was wrong that at the end of what was a noteworthy career Mr. Weimar took the shortcut and committed these two offenses that get him into federal court to face a serious sentencing at the age of 68," Bukey said.

But assistant U.S. Attorney Joe Bottini stressed that Weimar -- while providing a fascinating historical perspective -- hasn't really helped the ongoing federal investigation into Alaska political corruption.

"While he did provide a substantial amount of information, the bottom line was it didn't advance the ball one inch for the government, and that's just the hard reality of it," Bottini said.

Another cooperating defendant, former lobbyist Bill Bobrick, testified against former state Rep. Tom Anderson in a trial last year. Anderson was convicted of seven felonies including bribery and money laundering for agreeing to do Cornell's bidding and accepting payments he thought came from the company, but that actually were from the FBI. Cornell didn't know about the scheme, the Justice Department has said.

Weimar's cooperation wasn't "even in the same league" as Bobrick's usefulness, Bottini said.

In August, Weimar pleaded guilty to two felonies: conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud, and a charge called "structuring financial transactions," for dividing the $20,000 into smaller payments to avoid currency reporting requirements.

Bottini said that Weimar needed to serve more time than Bobrick, who pleaded guilty to a single count of conspiracy and was sentenced to five months in prison and five months of home confinement.

The defense disagreed. When Weimar paid the campaign bills of his longtime friend, there was an "implied understanding" but not outright bribery, defense lawyer Bukey said.

"He did not pay this campaign debt in order to corrupt a public official," Bukey said.

Bottini said Weimar's goal was the same as in other corruption cases where sitting legislators were bribed.

"This was clearly an effort to once again purchase influence from a prospective, in this case, public official," the prosecutor said.

The candidate, who was not identified in court, matches the description of former state Sen. Jerry Ward, a Republican who was trying to regain his seat in 2004 and lost. He was one of the Legislature's biggest advocates of hiring private contractors to provide public services and also of alternatives to prison, the business that Weimar was in. And he was a friend of Weimar's, according to a statement Bobrick gave the FBI.

Efforts to reach Ward on Wednesday were unsuccessful. He has not returned calls since Weimar was charged.

Weimar said he and the candidate had a 35-year friendship and that he spent some number of Christmas and Thanksgiving holidays with the man's family.

"It's sort of an odd couple relationship because we share very little -- we're not compatible politically," Weimar, a Democratic activist years ago, told the judge.

When his friend told him he was considering another run for office, Weimar asked how the race would be funded. The friend didn't receive a lot of contributions from others, Weimar said. The friend said he could cash in his state retirement account for $110,000 and put another $40,000 on credit cards.

Weimar said he told his friend to think twice.

"This is not a person of means and not the kind of person who could easily go out and get a job to, you know, support his family," Weimar said.

Weimar said he tried to help the candidate. He spent hours writing campaign materials. And when he found out the candidate owed $20,000 to his consultant, Weimar said, "I paid it and that was wrong."

"I especially, given the field that I was in for 15 or 18 years -- I should have known better," he said.

In sentencing him, Sedwick said he needed to take into account that Weimar had been a hardworking man who had lived most of his adult life crime free.

But he also noted that Weimar had a "substantial annual income and net worth."

Weimar could clearly afford a $75,000 fine, Sedwick said.

"I think that to deter similar conduct by others -- well-heeled people, successful people -- it's helpful for them to understand it might cost them quite a bit of money," the judge said.

A court filing summarizing Weimar's finances was sealed.

As for the private prison, it was never built.

Weimar was ordered to report to federal prison on Jan. 5. Sedwick recommended he serve his time in Sheridan, Ore., where there's a medium security prison and adjacent prison camp.

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

The political corruption investigation at a glance

The sentencing Wednesday of Bill Weimar is the latest development in the ongoing corruption investigation by the FBI, IRS and the Justice Department's Public Integrity Section.

The inquiry, under way in secret at least since 2004, surfaced on Aug. 31, 2006, when scores of federal agents served search warrants at more than 20 locations around Alaska, including the offices of six state legislators.

Since then, three former state lawmakers and U.S. Sen. Ted Stevens have been found guilty by juries, and two others, including a current state senator, have been charged and not yet tried. Five others have pleaded guilty.

At the center of the investigation are the chief executive and a vice president of the Alaska-based oil field services company Veco Corp., now defunct. Both men have pleaded guilty and are cooperating with investigators. The former chief of staff of ex-Gov. Frank Murkowski has also pleaded guilty and is cooperating. Separately, a lobbyist for a private prison company and Weimar, a private-prison advocate, have pleaded guilty.

Eleven people in all have been charged, and prosecutors say the investigation continues.

Additional people or areas are known to be under scrutiny:

VECO'S RELATIONSHIP WITH LEGISLATORS: During trials, the Veco executives described bribing or otherwise exerting improper influence of several officials. Among them: Former Senate President Ben Stevens, whom Veco officials admitted paying more than $240,000 in phony consulting contracts.