Former Rep. Vic Kohring's long wanderings through the federal criminal justice system reached an end this week when the U.S. Supreme Court decided to not review his last corruption conviction.
In a single sentence placed on the record Monday in Washington and filed in Anchorage Thursday, the high court dashed any remaining hope for Kohring that he could escape his felony record of conspiracy to commit extortion and bribery.
"The petition for a writ of certiorari is denied," said the court, using the latin legal term in rejecting Kohring's plea for a review of his case.
The court is under no obligation to explain its decision, and it didn't. The 9th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals had earlier decided to not take up his case.
Kohring, a Republican elected to seven terms in the House from Wasilla, was initially found guilty of three conspiracy, bribery and extortion charges in 2007 in the Veco corruption scandal. Sentenced to 3½ years in prison, he was freed in June 2009 on his first appeal when he claimed prosecutorial misconduct.
Facing a retrial, Kohring pleaded guilty in 2011 to a single count of conspiracy and was sentenced to the time served in his first conviction and 18 months probation. He then appealed his own guilty plea, arguing he was a victim of the same prosecutors who committed misconduct in the prosecution of the late Sen. Ted Stevens. That appeal went nowhere.
Kohring ran for a seat on the Wasilla City Council in 2013, but voters rejected his comeback.
Reach Richard Mauer at rmauer@adn.com or 257-4345.
By RICHARD MAUER