Anchorage Daily News

Former state Rep. Vic Kohring was naive and accepted gifts of cash from a man he thought was his friend, but he didn't do special favors in return, his lawyer says in a sentencing memorandum to the judge filed Friday.

When he was captured on FBI surveillance recordings asking what he could do for former Veco Corp. chief executive Bill Allen, Kohring just was extending the same offer to help he made to everyone, lawyer John Henry Browne wrote.

Friends and political supporters of Kohring weighed in with letters that urge the judge to go easy.

"I'm convinced he is not guilty of taking action in the legislature in return for a bribe or gift," former Anchorage Mayor Tom Fink wrote. "He is guilty of the dumb and naive appearances of such activity."

Kohring is scheduled to be sentenced Thursday before U.S. District Judge John Sedwick. Prosecutors want him to go to prison for five years and then serve three years on probation. But Browne, of Seattle, asks that he only serve eight months in prison and then another eight on probation.

As prosecutors tally the money, Kohring received or sought "corrupt benefits" that topped $24,000, an amount they say justifies him serving more time. Prosecutors also seek a fine of $24,244.

But Browne says in reality, Kohring got less than $5,000, and that doesn't call for a longer sentence.

They disagree over whether Kohring's unsuccessful attempt to get $17,000 from Allen to pay off credit card debt should count, as well as whether the money earned by Kohring's nephew in a Veco internship factors in.

At any rate, "the gifts had no impact on Mr. Kohring's decisions and thus caused no harm to the State of Alaska," Browne wrote.

A jury last year convicted Kohring of bribery, conspiracy and attempted extortion. Jurors found that he conspired with Allen and former Veco vice president Rick Smith to push through an oil tax favored by North Slope producers. One juror now is second-guessing the verdicts and says he regrets finding Kohring guilty.

BROKE AND JOBLESS

Browne contends that what Kohring did wasn't nearly as bad as the actions of two other former Alaska representatives now in prison on corruption charges, so he should serve less time. Former Anchorage Rep. Tom Anderson got five years in a scheme to help a private prison company, and former House Speaker Pete Kott of Eagle River was sentenced to six years after being convicted of federal corruption charges related to the oil tax. Kott is appealing.

Kohring, 49, will appeal too, Browne said.

Because of the corruption case, Kohring is broke and jobless, Browne wrote. He sold his Wasilla home, cashed out his state retirement benefits and borrowed $100,000 from family and friends to defend himself. And his wife may file for divorce, Browne wrote. A court clerk in Washington County, Oregon, where his wife lives, said the divorce case was already filed, in March.

Kohring is living in Wasilla with his elderly parents, whom he drives around and takes to their many medical appointments. Both have serious health issues - his father has Alzheimer's disease - and they soon may need to move into an assisted living facility, Browne wrote. They need Kohring, according to the lawyer.

Supporters who wrote in to sway the judge include, besides Fink, Kohring's longtime friend, Fred James, who came to his trial and stood by him throughout.

"Vic is the type of man who will never play chess well because he cannot hide his emotions," James wrote. He described Kohring as a totally decent, honest man whose word is "good as gold."

A.C. Buswell III of Wasilla, who said he's known Kohring since grade school, wrote in to say that he would watch over the former lawmaker as a third party custodian if the judge would allow it.

'A LITTLE ECCENTRIC'

John Davies, Kohring's former aide who now is chief of staff for Kohring's replacement, Rep. Wes Keller, wrote that he has known Kohring for more than 30 years and considers him kind and generous, hardworking and honest, a family man who keeps the community in mind.

Kohring puts others first, Davies wrote. Last summer, he mowed the grass of a widow many times, never asking for anything in return, Davies wrote.

As a legislator, Kohring instructed his staff to help anyone who needed it, whether or not they were in his district, and gave aides printed instructions on how to handle issues, Davies wrote to the judge.

After an indicted Kohring resigned his seat in June 2007, aides packed up his office.

"I was astonished at the amount of constituent files that kept coming out of the file drawers. Thousands, literally thousands," Davies wrote. It wasn't uncommon for Kohring to work until 11 p.m., he wrote.

Kohring may have been "a little eccentric," Davies wrote. But he also did lots of good.

As Davies put it, "Vic is simply a person that is 'hard wired to help others.'"

Kohring, a Republican, was elected seven times to represent Wasilla in the House.

Find Lisa Demer online at adn.com/contact/ldemer or call 257-4390. Reporter Rindi White contributed to this story.

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