Chief of Staff to Former Governor of Alaska Pleads Guilty to Conspiracy to Commit...

Chief of Staff to Former Governor of Alaska Pleads Guilty to Conspiracy to
Commit Honest Services Fraud

WASHINGTON, March 4 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- James Clark, chief of staff
to the former governor of Alaska, has pleaded guilty to soliciting and
accepting nearly $70,000 in illegal polling and consulting expenses for the
governor's re-election campaign in 2006, Assistant Attorney General Alice S.
Fisher of the Criminal Division announced today. The illegal payments were
provided by VECO Corporation, formerly an oil field services company
headquartered in Alaska.
In a hearing today before Chief U.S. District Judge John W. Sedwick at the
federal court in Anchorage, Clark pleaded guilty to a one-count information
charging him with conspiracy to commit honest services mail and wire fraud. In
filed court documents, Clark admitted to conspiring with Bill J. Allen, the
former Chief Executive Officer of VECO; Richard L. Smith, the former Vice
President of Community and Government Affairs of VECO; and others to obtain
payment for approximately $68,550 in expenses relating to the then-governor of
Alaska's re-election campaign, and to do so in a manner that concealed the
payments and deceived the public. Clark used his official position and the
Office of the Governor to continue advocating for important oil and gas
legislation that Clark knew was supported by VECO and its corporate
executives.
"As chief of staff to the former governor of Alaska, James Clark conspired
to deprive Alaska's citizens of honest services and today has been held
accountable for his crime. The faith and trust citizens place in the
democratic process of governing and enacting laws is shaken every time an
individual corrupts the legal and constitutional workings of that process,"
said Assistant Attorney General Alice S. Fisher of the Criminal Division. "I
thank the federal prosecutors and FBI and IRS agents for their diligent work
in this investigation. The Department of Justice will continue working hard in
its pursuit of public corruption at all levels of government."
Clark faces a maximum penalty of five years imprisonment and a $250,000
fine. Sentencing has been set for Sept. 4, 2008.
To date, this is the seventh criminal conviction arising out of the
ongoing investigation into public corruption in the State of Alaska. Thomas
T. Anderson, a former elected member of the Alaska House of Representatives,
was convicted in July 2007 and sentenced to five years in prison for
extortion, conspiracy, bribery and money laundering for soliciting and
receiving money from an FBI confidential source in exchange for agreeing to
perform official acts to further a business interest represented by the
source. Peter Kott, a former Speaker of the Alaska House of Representatives,
was convicted in September 2007 and sentenced to six years in prison for
extortion, bribery and conspiracy. Victor H. Kohring, a former elected member
of the Alaska House of Representatives, was convicted at trial in November
2007 for attempted extortion, bribery and conspiracy, and is awaiting
sentencing. Additionally, three private individuals - Allen, Smith and former
Anchorage lobbyist William Bobrick - have pleaded guilty to felony public
corruption charges.
This case is being prosecuted by Trial Attorneys Nicholas A. Marsh and
Edward P. Sullivan of the Public Integrity Section, headed by Chief William M.
Welch II, and Assistant U.S. Attorneys Joseph W. Bottini and James A. Goeke
from the District of Alaska. The ongoing investigation is being led by the
FBI and the Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigative Division.
SOURCE U.S. Department of Justice

U.S. Department of Justice, +1-202-514-2007, or TDD +1-202-514-1888