ANCHORAGE, Alaska -- Former state Sen. George Hohman, who was expelled from the Alaska Legislature after his conviction on bribery charges, has been sentenced to three years in prison and fined $20,000.
Hohman, a Democrat from Bethel, had been charged with one count of accepting a bribe and one count of offering a bribe in 1980 when he was co-chairman of the Legislature's joint Free Committee, which irons out differences between House and Senate Appropriation measures.
Specifically, Hohman was accused of using his influence to sway the committee to appropriate funds to buy two firefighting airplanes for the state. He was found guilty of the charges in December and sentenced Friday.
Superior Court Judge Douglas Serdahely slapped Hohman with a five-year prison term but suspended two years of the sentence. The judge said the sentence is a notice to politicians that 'corruption in any form will not be tolerated in our government and will not go unpunished.'
Serdahely refused to ban Hohman from future activities in politics and lobbying as requested by prosecutors but said he would consider the request after reading briefs submitted by both sides next week.
Rep. Russ Meekins, who was serving with Hohman on the Free Committee at the time and was offered the bribe, blew the whistle on Hohman and was the key witness in the trial.
