Politics

Sen. Sullivan wants state option to prosecute sex trafficking cases

FAIRBANKS -- Among the lingering questions about the political corruption scandal that shook Alaska over the past decade is why the federal government backed off on a potential sex exploitation case against Bill Allen, the 77-year-old former political power broker, newspaper publisher and construction executive.

Federal officials said that their decision five years ago not to charge Allen with violations of the Mann Act, which prohibits the transportation of people across state lines for prostitution and other sex crimes, was not a plea deal in exchange for Allen's testimony against the late Sen. Ted Stevens and others.

Sen. Dan Sullivan, who was attorney general during part of that period, wants Loretta Lynch, the U.S. attorney general nominee, to address that question and others. He said he asked more than a month ago for a response and "nobody has gotten back to me."

"We were more than ready to take the case on had they allowed us to," he said in a phone interview from Washington, D.C.

Sullivan said he plans to keep pushing for a response from Lynch about the department's action and is also backing a proposed amendment to the Victims of Trafficking Act that would make it easier for states to prosecute Mann Act violations.

In the Allen situation, the Justice Department refused to grant authority to state prosecutors to pursue violations of the federal Mann Act. Allen, the former Veco executive and Republican kingmaker, was fined $750,000 and sentenced to three years in prison on bribery and conspiracy charges but was not charged with abusing underage girls. He was jailed from January 2010 until November 2011 and remained on probation until last November.

State prosecutors said they didn't have enough evidence under state law -- specifically, they couldn't demonstrate that the girls Allen had sex with were under 16, usually the age for consensual sex. And they said they needed the Justice Department's approval to charge Mann Act violations.

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Sullivan's amendment would require the U.S. Justice Department to grant a request by a state attorney general to step in and pursue federal Mann Act cases unless the federal government decides it would "undermine the administration of justice." If the federal government rejected a request, the department would be required to respond in detail within 60 days to explain the situation.

That didn't happen in the Allen case. Police and prosecutors said in 2010 that they believed they had a strong case against Allen regarding teenage prostitutes as young as 15 but they said leaders of the department in Washington, D.C., blocked it.

Asked why there was no state prosecution or investigation of the other aspects of the Allen scandal regarding political corruption in Alaska, Sullivan said, "Most of my effort on that was on this issue, which you might remember took a lot of time."

He said he has gotten bipartisan support for his amendment and expects the bill to be approved with the amendment in place.

Dermot Cole

Former ADN columnist Dermot Cole is a longtime reporter, editor and author.

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