Sen. Stevens to be arraigned Thursday

WASHINGTON, July 30 (UPI) -- Sen. Ted Steven, R-Alaska, is scheduled to be arraigned Thursday in a federal court on charges that he lied on his Senate financial disclosure forms.

A federal grand jury in Washington Tuesday indicted Stevens, the longest serving Republican in the U.S. Senate, on seven felony counts of making false statements on his disclosure forms from 1999-2002.

Stevens, 84, will be arraigned before Judge Emmet G. Sullivan, The Hill, a Washington political newspaper, reported Wednesday.

Stevens, who is seeking an eighth term in November, is expected to plead not guilty to charges that he didn't disclose more than $250,000 worth of gifts and services from VECO Corp., an Alaskan oil services company that did renovations on his home near Anchorage.

In a statement posted on his Web site, Stevens said he "never knowingly submitted" a false disclosure form.

His indictment is part of the fallout of an FBI investigation into public corruption in Alaska that began in 2004. To date, the investigation has resulted in seven convictions, including those of Alaska state lawmakers and VECO officials.