10A NEWS
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
TUESDAY MAY 8, 2007
CORPORATE LIES
TUESDAY, MAY 8, 2007
Oil executives plead guilty
BY RACHEL D'ORO
ASSOCIATED PRESS
ANCHORAGE, Alaska — Two top officers of an oil services company pleaded guilty Monday to bribing Alaska lawmakers with cash and the promise of jobs, contracts and favors for their backing on bills supported by the multinational firm.
Bill I. Allen, chief executive of Anchorage-based VECO Corp., and Rick Smith, a vice president, pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court to extortion, bribery, and conspiracy to impede the Internal Revenue Service.
Prosecutors say Smith, Allen and five state lawmakers conspired to buy the lawmakers' support, with money and other financial benefits, according to court documents.
Allen also pleaded guilty to issuing company bonuses to VECO executives to repay them for campaign contributions they made to politicians, then claiming those bonuses as legitimate company expenses.
Sentencing was not immediately scheduled. The sentencing recommendation for Allen is between nine and just more than 11 years in prison and a fine between $15,000 and $150,000, according to the plea agreement dated Wednesday and unsealed Monday.
The pleas came three days after federal prosecutors indicted one current and two former members of the Alaska House of Representatives on bribery and extortion charges related to last year's negotiations for a new oil and gas tax and a proposed natural gas pipeline.
The three indicted lawmakers
— Rep. Vic Kohring of Wasilla and former Reps. Pete Kott of Eagle River and Bruce Weyrahuck of Juneau — pleaded not guilty Friday.
Kott, the former House speaker, is accused of accepting $8,993 in payments, $2,750 in polling expenses and the promise of a contract as a lobbyist for VECO in exchange for his support of the proposed pipeline and a tax proposal that favored VECO. He said he would
throw his support behind the company if he was made warden of a prison the company was building in the Caribbean, according to the indictment.
The tax passed, but the contract for the pipeline was never approved.
The indictment did not name the company, but an attorney for VECO Corp. said it was the company involved. The company issued a news release Friday, two days after Allen signed the plea agreement, saying the charges involve Allen and Smith, but no corporate subsidiaries or other executives.
Kohring is accused of demanding and accepting up to $2,600 in cash and a $3,000 job for a relative from VECO executives in exchange for his support. The indictment also alleges Kohring sought but did not receive a $17,000 loan for credit card debt.
Weyhrauch, a 54-year-old lawyer, is charged with helping advance the oil service company's causes in exchange for the promise of future legal work, the indictment said.
'Get muddy'
Ted S. Warren/ASSOCIATED PRESS
Washington Gov. Chris Gregoire poses for a photo with "the Mud Monster", prior to signing legislation to officially create the Puget Sound Partnership, a new state agency to oversee the $8 billion task of restoring Puget Sound by 2020, in a signing ceremony Monday at Des Moines Beach Park which overlooks the sound in Des Moines, Wash. The Mud Monster is the mascot of "Mud-up" a group that encourages people to "get muddy" and explore Puget Sound.
They join the following officers in leading the Student Alumni Association!
ELLEN STOLLE
President
ANGELA PALACIOZ
Director of Administration
RACHEL BARNES
Co-VP University Relations
KYLE WEST
Co-VP University Relations
ALI HANSEN
VP Marketing
ALYSON RODEE
Director of Marketing
KATI REED
VP Special Events
DRU WALSTROM
Director of Special Events
CHRISTINA GERING
VP of Member Relations
DEVIN McCARTHY
Director of Member Relations
MARK FILIPI
VP Outreach
MEGAN LEMON
Director of Outreach
If you'd like to be a part of the Student Alumni Association contact us at saa@ku.edu For more information, go to www.kualumni.org
>> DIPLOMACY
British queen visits White House
BY JENNIFER LOVEN ASSOCIATED PRESS
WASHINGTON — Washington turned out adoring schoolchildren and ladies in outfits for Queen Elizabeth II's visit. The White House laid on special touches, too, at President
special touches,
Bush's first-ever
white-tie state
dinner to honor
America's closest
ally and make
the queen feel
welcome.
more than 230 years old.
the centuries-old vermeil flatware and candelabras came
The president's slip of the tongue during welcoming speeches was inadventive, of course, and quickly smoothed over with humor. But it wasn't exactly the flawless effort Bush had hoped would erase memories of the "talking hat" episode during the queen's last U.S. visit. (In 1991, during Bush's father's administration, a too-short lectern left the audience able to see only the queen's hat behind microphones.)
"She gave me a look that only a mother could give a child."
GEORGE W. BUSH
President
from a London silversmith. A made-of-sugar replica of the queen's 1953 coronation rose graced the cake. English farmhouse cheeses accompanied the salad course.
But then there was the president suggesting Queen Elizabeth was
The queen, a sprightly 81, gave an embarrassed Bush a gracious nod after he suggested she had celebrated the United States' founding in 1776. He meant to say she had attended 1976 bicentennial festivities.
"She gave me a look that only a
mother could give a child," the president quipped, earning a reserved chuckle from his guest.
The president and the queen took markedly different approaches to their formal remarks.
Bush focused on the partnership between the United States and Britain in Iraq and against terrorism. In just four minutes, he mentioned "freedom" and "liberty" seven times. "Your majesty, I appreciate your leadership during these times of danger and decision," he said.
By contrast, the queen said her fifth journey to the United States was an occasion to "step back from our current occupations."
But despite the hundreds of hours of preparation, Laura Bush suggested that this white-tie affair could not only be their first — but last. She called the dinner, somewhat wistfully, "the most elegant and most formal that we'll host."
Take classes this summer Study and learn wherever you are Choose from 150 course options Enroll and begin anytime Graduate on time
www.ContinuingEd.ku.edu
785-864-5823
Check with your academic advisor before enrolling