10-27-08 by dugan
Alaska’s big oil producers should be quivering a little after Sen. Ted Stevens’ conviction for lying about big gifts from an oilfield company. Here’s the connection: Bill Allen, the oilfield company executive who lavished free construction work, furniture and even sculptures on Sen. Stevens, headed a profitable but not huge oilfield services company, called VECO. Yet he was on a first-name basis around the state Capitol. He also reportedly told some state legislators a couple of years ago that his heavy lobbying was under orders from the big oil companies–like BP and its ARCO subsidiary.
As told by the Anchorage Daily news:
Rick Halford, a longtime Eagle River lawmaker and former Senate president, said VECO’s role was evident to most legislators. "Everybody knew that VECO was representing the majors, but they were never saying it directly," Halford said.
Since last year, two state legislators have been convicted in federal court on bribery and other charges related to VECO’s handouts. One awaits trial. And Stevens’ own son Ben Stevens, then the state Senate president, is under federal investigation. Alaska’s only Congressman, Don Young, has spent more than $1 million on legal fees fending off another investigation.
The Daily News revelations about VECO perhaps answering to bigger fish didn’t lead to any known federal investigations at the time. But the Stevens conviction may well push the Justice Department to take another look–especially since its career prosecutors are less and less beholden to the departing resident of the White House.