Our view: Time for hard time

We don't doubt Bill Allen is capable of kindness and charity. So was Al Capone.

But to say that his corruption of Alaska's politics was an aberration is, to put it kindly, utter nonsense.

Corruption was Allen's standard operating procedure, a way of doing business in Alaska's capital and elsewhere. It was the deliberate method by which he got what he wanted for his company in particular and his oil industry clients in general.

Allen and his company, Veco, are not first-time law-breakers. He first ran afoul of Alaska campaign law in the mid-80s, when the Alaska Public Offices Commission fined Veco more than $70,000 for illegal campaign contributions. (APOC and Veco later settled for $28,000.)

In 1991, APOC again fined Veco, this time more than $6,000, for illegal contributions to the lieutenant governor campaign of Steve McAlpine.

That's at least two decades of doing his best to corrupt the politics of Alaska. And his best was pretty good.

The FBI investigation clearly showed Allen buying some of our elected representatives and made it clear that what he bought was the elevation of his interest over the public interest. The fact that the loyalty of some politicians came pathetically cheap does not lessen the offense.

His defenders say he served Alaska. But he didn't, he served himself. Any service to Alaska was a coincidence. He subverted Alaska.

That was no aberration.

He cooperated with federal investigators and prosecutors to protect his family, his wealth and himself. He knew what he was doing when he was at the height of his rotten power, and he knew what he was doing when he cut his deal with the feds. Since pleading guilty to corruption charges in 2007, he's had more freedom than he deserves. As far as we know he hasn't spent that freedom doing the kind of things a truly contrite person would do to make amends.

Family and friends have defended him, pointing out his tough, humble beginnings. No doubt about it, Allen was a poor boy who worked hard and made good, in spades. But the welder didn't have to become a felon to prosper. Millions of Americans have made that passage on the right side of the law.

Family and friends also have noted the price Allen already has paid -- disgrace and ostracism. He's 72 and his health is poor.

The judge can consider his age, his health, his cooperation and the "price" he has already "paid."

But Bill Allen is still responsible for what he did to Alaska politics. He was the driving force in a long-running and far-reaching corruption. He brought disgrace and ostracism upon himself, and they will be his no matter what his sentence.

That sentence needs to be serious. Federal prosecutors are seeking 46 months and a $750,000 fine.

That's not enough.

BOTTOM LINE: Bill Allen deserves more than prosecutors have requested for corrupting Alaska politics.