Judge sentences former Alaska lawmaker in bribery case

Former state Rep. Vic Kohring continued to proclaim his innocence and read a statement in court repeating his claim that the judge should have removed himself from the case.

Kohring was convicted in November of accepting at least $2,600 from executives of an influential Alaska company that provided engineering, construction and facility maintenance services to oil producers.

Prosecutors say Kohring used VECO Corp. CEO Bill Allen as a human ATM machine, tapping him for $600 to $700 at a time. One such transaction was caught on video by FBI agents in March 2006.

After the sentencing, Kohring acknowledged only that he had been naive.

"I should not have taken the gifts even though they were from a longtime friend," he said.

Kohring is one of three former Republican state lawmakers indicted in the VECO probe, and the second convicted.

Allen and Rick Smith, a former VECO vice president, have pleaded guilty to bribery charges. Their sentencings have been delayed as they continue to work as prosecution witnesses in the ongoing federal investigation of corruption in Alaska politics.

During Kohring's trial, Allen testified that he was blackmailed by an employee over renovations that VECO workers made at U.S. Sen. Ted Stevens' home. The home improvement project is at the center of a Justice Department corruption investigation into the powerful Republican, who has denied wrongdoing and said he paid all the bills he was given for the work.

Kohring, of Wasilla, read a statement in court repeating his claim that U.S. District Court Judge John Sedwick should have removed himself from the case because he's married to a former state commissioner with whom Kohring butted heads. The judge rejected those claims last month.

"I don't believe I received a fair trial last fall, which is why I did not prevail in this courtroom," he told Sedwick. "I was stunned when I learned after the trial you are married to one of my biggest personal and political enemies from my years as a legislator."

After sentencing, Kohring said Allen betrayed him in his court testimony and that he did nothing wrong.

"My conscience is absolutely clear," he said.

He plans to appeal but was denied a request to stay out of prison during that process. Sedwick ordered him to turn himself in no later than June 30.