Crime & Courts

Photos: State announces effort to prosecute Bill Allen on sex-crime allegations

Alaska Attorney General Craig Richards said Friday the state was launching a new push to prosecute former Veco chief Bill Allen for sex crimes. But a hurdle remains in the form of the U.S. Department of Justice, which would have to sign off for Richards' office to prosecute Allen under an updated 1910 federal sex trafficking law called the Mann Act.

Richards made the announcement at his downtown Anchorage office Friday morning with U.S. Sen. Dan Sullivan. Sullivan led passage of legislation in Congress last year that requires the Justice Department to either allow state and local prosecutors to pursue their own Mann Act cases, or provide a detailed explanation of why such a prosecution would "undermine the administration of justice."

Richards said at the news conference that the state had asked the Justice Department for the authority to prosecute Allen, starting a 60-day countdown for the federal government to decide whether to allow a case to move forward. The request came in a letter sent Friday morning to U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch.

Read more: State announces new effort to prosecute Bill Allen on sex-crime allegations

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