Ex-VECO execs sentenced to prison

ANCHORAGE, Alaska, Oct. 28 (UPI) -- Two former executives for an Alaskan oil field company were sentenced to prison Wednesday for their roles at the center of a public corruption scandal.

Bill J. Allen, 72, former chief executive officer of VECO Corp. was given 36 months in prison and was fined $750,000. He also will serve three years of supervised release, the U.S. Justice Department said in a release.

Richard L. Smith, former vice president of community and government affairs at VECO, was given 21 months in prison, a $10,000 fine and three years supervised release.

Allen and Smith pleaded guilty in May to bribery, conspiracy to commit bribery, extortion and mail and wire fraud, and conspiracy to defraud the Internal Revenue Service. Authorities said they had provided about $395,000 in illegal payments to public officials in Alaska.

Court documents revealed Allen and Smith conspired with at least five members of the Alaska Legislature to provide illegal financial benefits to elected officials in exchange for supporting legislation.

Three state lawmakers have been convicted by juries, two pleaded guilty and one has yet to be tried. VECO executives also were key to the 2008 corruption conviction of then-U.S. Sen. Ted Stevens, R-Alaska, whose conviction was later overturned.