Another One Bites the Dust – Bill Allen is Sentenced (and I win a little wager!)
It was quite the Who’s Who of media yesterday, both traditional and new media. Reporters and bloggers sat side by side in the packed courtroom waiting for the sentencing of Bill Allen, the former CEO of the oil services company Veco. The ringleader of Alaska’s corruption scandal drama, with players known as “The Corrupt Bastards Club,” Allen has been busy dishing the dirt on the rest of the corrupt bastards to lighten his own sentence.
Two of those that fell before him, Rep. Vic Kohring (R) and Rep. Pete Kott (R) opted for a different strategy. They fought it every step of the way, refused to cooperate, maintained their innocence in the face of overwhelming evidence to the contrary and ended up paying for it.
But Bill Allen sang. He sang like a canary! He sang like Pavarotti! And he did it to save his butt, and keep his children from going to jail right along with him, where they deserved to be. He cooperated with the FBI, lost his long-time friendship with former U.S. Senator Ted Stevens, testified on three occasions, submitted himself to 71 interviews, consented to have conversations audio taped and allowed a CCTV camera to be installed in his home. And his song reverberated throughout the land. And the corrupt bastards fell like the corrupt bastards they are.
And so today, Judge John Sedwick sat on the bench and decided his fate. But first, he had to listen to all the reasons why he should go light on Allen, and apparently there were a lot of them, at least if you listen to his lawyers. Even the government lawyer agreed that Allen’s sentence needed to be reduced from the 78-97 months that he would have been facing if he’d adopted the failed “middle finger strategy” of Kott and Kohring.
So how do you defend a guy who handed out cash to state legislators to further his own agenda and line the pockets of the oil companies? A bombastic, drunken, lout with entitlement issues the size of Alaska? And all this doesn’t touch on Allen’s sexual proclivities, which ranged from prostitutes to underage girls, including one particular case in which the girl, Bambi Tyree, a 14-15 year old child, when Allen would have been in his 50s. How do you defend this guy? Here’s how.
It started off with Allen’s attorney Bob Bundy, talking about how Allen was known to be a generous person, so these bad bad legislators knew right who to go to for the money. His generosity and kind heartedness made him a…..”sitting duck.” Really. Those were his exact words. “When they came to him he responded,” the attorney tried to convince the judge. You see, it was because Bill Allen really believed that the petroleum profits tax that would benefit the oil companies was the best thing for Alaska that he did it. It was his love of this great state and the people in it that led to his downfall. He was vulnerable…he was weak. How could this good and noble man resist? His passion for the best interest of all people led to his downfall. The illegal activity only happened because of solicitation, you see. It was those others. They ASKED. What could he do, being so generous and selfless and all? Him with that big heart of gold. They played him like a fiddle. And, he explained, there was “no organization of the illegal activity.” Allen would never do that. And cash changing hands was “serendipitous as it occurred,” he explained. Serendipitous, indeed.
At this point, the people in my row were looking at each other incredulously. As soon as the words “sitting duck” came out of the attorney’s mouth, there was a rapid-fire clacking on the keyboards of the laptops in the room. It was kind of fun to listen to the level of sound from the keyboards. You always knew when something really quotable was being said by the increase in the tap tap tapping. Kind of like when the shutters of cameras go crazy.
Fortunately Judge Sedwick piped up at this point. It was the only time I saw him look irritated, and justly so. He basically said, “You expect me to believe THAT?” but in longer and more eloquent sounding words. He sided with the prosecution saying that it was obvious that Allen had taken a leadership role in all this. It was not because of his generous nature that Allen bribed the legislators, it was because he wanted to provide “hundreds of millions, if not billions to his clients.”
As you probably know, cameras are not allowed in the courtroom, so here is my incredibly professional and accurate artist’s rendering of that dramatic “sitting duck” moment.
“When you can say to someone, ‘I own your hind-quarters’ that implies a leadership role,” said prosecutor James Trusty referring to Allen’s famous audiotaped quote to Pete Kott in which the very same Bill Allen informs the legislator “I own your ass!” That was “reflective of the role he had of orchestrating payments, and promises across the board,” said Trusty.
Ah, yes… the corrupt CEO with the heart of gold. Not.
Then came still more testimony from Allen’s other attorney about how the court needs to have “balance and proportionality” in weighing the good he has done in his life vs. the bad, and how “he is 72, going on 73″ (as opposed to?) and how prison time will be difficult for him, and he has personal characteristics like being hard-working, dedicated and goal-oriented, and how he loves his “nookular” family, and how he has even engaged in acts of “disinterested generosity.” When he became so focused on the pipeline, he “allowed himself to turn generosity into an effort to increase his influence.”
Here’s the part where I really started to dislike this guy. He went on about how “pursuing legislative goals” is protected by the first amendment, and people who do this are engaged in “good citizenship.” He may have crossed the line, but he wasn’t the worst. If he had been the worst, the FBI would have been making deals with other people to bring him down, not making deals with him. We must beware of “runaway opinion,” he warned, and then proceeded to remind the judge that he shouldn’t let public opinion sway his decision making and that he needed to “strike a balance that recognizes that he has suffered so much already.” He was able to justify his corruption by thinking he was doing something good for the state.
I was in the back of the courthouse, which is good because I was staring at the back of that guy’s head so hard that if I’d have been in closer range, I’m sure I would have set his hair on fire. He was definitely not winning friends in the courtroom.
And this defense was startlingly similar to Assemblyman Dan Coffey’s defense of his friend Joseph Boehm, whose name came out when the aforementioned Bambi Tyree pleaded guilty in a “drugs for sex with underage girls” scandal that came to a head in 2003. It was during her testimony in this case that she told of her association with Bill Allen. Coffey pleaded for leniencey for Boehm in a letter to the court where he said:
“Look at those who are now blaming Joe for all the bad things that happened to them,” he told the judge in the letter. “If you do, I doubt you will find that any of them have made any contributions to our community. Joe has. He built a company which employs hundreds. These people who now point fingers at Joe, have never built anything. They are vultures who saw Joe’s addiction as a way to get to his wealth and they were all over him with their drugs and the other inducements.”
If it weren’t for all those other people who took advantage of these poor vulnerable guys, they would have been just fine. (dabbing eyes with a hanky) But, all that offering of underage sex and illegal drugs and pipeline votes and legislative favors… it just wasn’t fair.
Then Bill Allen took the stand himself and talked a long time. Most of it had nothing to do with anything, but was a biography of his life and times in Alaska, and how there used to be a balance in town when he owned the now defunct Anchorage Times. The Daily News published what “they” thought and the Times published what “conservative people think.” Then he went right on with a critique of our former governor. “I think Murkowski done a good job.” Yes, he talks like that.
More biography – He did wrong. But he quit drinking. He did a lot of drinking down in Juneau and that’s the stupidest thing you can do because it clouds your judgment. He apologized to the judge and to the people of Alaska. He thought he was helping them “but instead of helping, I pushed them down.” He went over the line. But, he’s worked with the government for 2 years, and “we probably done 5 to 7 days a week to get ready for the trials.” He harmed people who were his friends who are not now. (Ted Stevens presumably) And finally he left us with these words, “Try to remember that I done some good.”
All during this time, a cluster of media-types were sitting in the back corner. All of a sudden I felt a nudge from Dennis Zaki who was sitting next to me. He handed me his little pad that said “How long?” at the top and then a list of names of those who were sitting close by. I filled out “36″ and passed it to Shannyn Moore who was sitting on my left. The pad made the rounds.
And now, the time had come. Judge Sedwick reviewed everything and decided on three 3-year sentences for the three convictions, and that they could be served concurrently. That meant 36 months. I won the bet! I wondered what would have happened had I stood up and yelled “YESSSSS!” with a fist in the air. And he also levied the maximum fine – $250,000 for each offense for a total of $750,000. Unfortunately, this is a drop in the bucket for our friend Mr. Allen, but the point was made.
We followed him out to a waiting limo – one of three that were there to pick up family members. I had a camera malfunction of some kind and only managed to get a couple not very good shots. Private security guards blocked the way for Allen, and a very funny photographer told me that he anticipated that Allen would be doing a peanut commercial shortly, because he looked like he was also doing it with protection. Levi shouldn’t have all the fun.
~Dennis Zaki is on it, filming the Allen family after the trial.
Here is his video of the event.
Mark Allen (Kentucky Derby winner – Mine That Bird), and his daughter bribed multiple politicians including former senator Ted Stevens, his son Ben, and Congressman Don Young. Allen’s cooperation kept them from being prosecuted for crimes.
Is that a redition of Judge Ito in the drawing? =)
AKM, you draw good ducks and snails.
Thanks for sharing the story.
Anyone else notice that this happened on “C” street? Coincidence? Comeuppance? I am sure the other “C” street will pray for his corrupt arse.
Thanks AKM, your perspective is much more entertaining than the ADN.
It never seems to be enough punishment for the crime, (three thousand years is not enough). By the way AKM, should you ever decide to quit blogging, you could have a fabulous career as a court artist! Did the judge have a slight resemblance to Ito or Freud?
He is lucky not to be from a State with three strike law. There would have been mandatory periods of incarceration. The sentences could not be served concurrently.
The sentencing leaves us wondering if he would have done better for his family, had he done more crimes.
Wow, I admire your fortitude in being able to sit through that without catching anyone’s hair on fire with your glare! Thanks for taking another one for the team.
I love your illustration! Especially the judge with his “WTF” (Why The Face) all over his face!
Wow! Only in Alaska, AKM…..omly in Alaska!
I felt like I was there, AKM. Thanks for the blow by blow (and for sitting on one of those hard courtroom chairs for the duration).
So 6 1/2 – 8 years reduced to 3 – not bad, but then he gets to pay $250,000. per year for the privilege!
Great job reporting the events of the day AKM.
What great entertainment in Alaska!
Along with sitting ducks, was there any mention of dead fish going with the flow? Geez….he sounded like Palin.
Nice graphic, AKM. I enjoyed the duck and the angry judge.
This was a nice write up of the event, AKM. You draw better than I do. I think that he actually, was given a pretty LIGHT sentence. The family reacted as if he should not have done ANY time. I would have started the sentencing at 20 years just for MENTIONING a 14 year old then added on sentencing for ALL the other corruptions that he was involved in because he loved, Alaska and was a “seating duck”???
sorry “sitting duck”
Love the “crack court reporting”….who else would think of it? Very resourceful.
Once Upon A Time In Alaska, Bill Allen and his boys cast a very long shadow. Some feared them. The greedy wanted to be them.
They marched and crushed everything in their path. Until they met the Law. Or what the Law could make stick.
Flamboyance? They had flamboyance. I recall being familiar with a speech Bill delivered at the Captain Cook. Bill delivers the speech. To wake the crowd up, Bill pulls out a gun and raises it to the ceiling. He fires off a few ear-splitting blanks.
Fast forward 25 years. Bill and his boys are marched off to prison. I guess there will be no flamboyant gunplay in prison for Bill and the boys.
Or will there?
What I wonder about this plea deal Allen made with the Feds is if his kids can’t be prosecuted for their parts in bribing Young, Steven(s), and et. al., does this then totally negate any indictments for those past and present legislators? If Allen got those guys off because of this deal, then I say we didn’t get our monies worth; a handful of small fish and one that got hooked but then flopped onto the bank and back into the water? We need to get the big players.
BTW, I wish more artist rendering of court room proceedings looked like yours. Infinitely more interesting to look at!
I think the sitting duck should be in a chair.
Is this the “great story that contains – a mystery caller, a parcel from far away, a whole lot of amazing Mudpuppies, and a creation that will knock your boots off?”
I am now confused (not that it takes much
No, that will be tonight’s open thread! AKM
Can’t wait for the “dead fish” to be in the courtroom!
I’ve always loved court drawings. Yours is the best!
I feel deprived of the tv ending where the sentenced convict gets cuffed in court and sent off to jail, though Zaki’s video of Allen going home with his ‘loving’ family was quite entertaining. I wonder if there are any prison bribes already in the works.
Wow, I just got around to looking at the video. Some choice language there.
@ phoebe (14):
Shouldn’t it be “quack court reporting”?
I was hoping for an audio to go with the account; perhaps violins softly sobbing while the defense attorneys extolled Allen’s virtues and downfall. (snif)
Great job, AKM- as usual.
I have been coming here over a year now,most days at least twice daily and never knew you can draw so well,hehehe
I’m more than a little appalled. Less than two weeks ago, some guy in Iowa was sentenced to 13 years in prison and 10 months probation after being arrested last November in a sex sting. Authorities said he agreed to meet a person he believed was a 14-year-old girl at a hotel.
He didn’t even actually HAVE sex with a minor, yet he’ll spend more than 4 times as long as Allen in the pen.
And, as AKM pointed out, $250K fine per charge HAS to be a drop in the bucket for this guy. What his gross income was for the period he was being so wonderful for Alaska? THAT would make an appropriate fine, don’cha think? Where’s the incentive to behave if it’s not even unprofitable to get caught?
This isn’t justice.
Par for the course LE always uses the lesser fish to go after the bigger ones,like Senators.representatives and such who betray the public trust much more so than Allan did.It sounds to me like they are getting away with a lot more than Allan did..They did not have to take the bribes g,gifts ect they all knew it was the wrong thing to do and this includes Allan.Sort of like the sting in the valley for prostitution where the johns names were outed.From the ADN it seems people thought that was wrong ,but why should the women be the only ones that have to pay the price.
So is this federal time? Can I expect to Mr. Allen to be resting his head in my local medium security facility?
me either bubbles, lol……it’ll be more fun for us.
so was Van Flea one of the defense lawyers? the argument sounds like what he’d say for Scarah, GAH.
thanks AKM, I enjoyed your reporting. I guess those paying attention in Alaska got to know some politicians and lawyers better through this sordid process. That’s a good thing.
I’d like to know if the evidence against Allen from one of the young females has gone missin, supposedly it was turned over to the FBI.
If Allen had stolen an old clunker worth little to nothing, it would be grand theft auto with mandatory sentence of 18 month to 3 yrs. He got off awfully easy. His fine doesn’t even cover legal cost and the cost of incarceration.
Mona, From what I understand the underage sex charges may still be coming, there is a separate investigation going on for that dirty deed. He’ll have to be charged, tried and sentenced separately for that, which could give him even more time.
Karma’s a bitch!
Also, too, obviously his children’s attitudes show no remorse, quite the contrary, more like contempt and aggression.
I almost forgot the best part! I’ve updated the post with a photo from Dennis Zaki and the story of a little wager…
Well, he shouldn’t get no freebies in prison. Wonder where he’ll go and how he’ll be treated after being a snitch to fellow crooks.
LOL, do ya get a free drink for winning the bet?
BWAAAA-hahahaha!!
(BTW, Akm: When i saw your artist’s rendition of the proceedings, I literally laughed ’til the tears flowed. People say that, but I actually had to go get TWO tissues.
The bet was also tissue-worthy. Thanks. I really needed that!
Hilarious account of a not so funny situation AKM! I too was literally laughing outloud at your artist’s rendition. Poor widdle sitting duck! LOL!
Say No: He’ll be sent to a minimum security country club, where there’ll be golf. And tennis courts. Golf, tennis courts and catered mess hall. Golf, tennis, catered chow, and weekend visits with the missus so that he may perform his husbandly duties as is demanded by God. Oh, and cable tv. Golf, tennis, catered chow, nookie, cable…
Oh, and his lawyers will have him out in 3 months anyway. But let this be a lesson to us all!!
33
@ MonaLisa IS FIRED UP, READY TO GO!!
And hey, if he doesn’t have a degree, he can get one!
I am wondering about the Legislators who TOOK the bribes. Are any of them to be prosecuted? Are any of them STILL serving in the Legislation? If so, are they the same ones who did not have the “politcal will” to bring charges against SP after she was found GUILTY OF ABUSE OF POWER (in Troopergate)?
Congrats on the wager.
He should have got more though.
Now the Feds need to go after the kids. They look just arrogant enough to keep up the same family values set by daddy.
Messing with a 14 year old girl. What a sick freak.
I agree BBHounds, watch those smug, arrogant kids of his. Those apples didn’t fall far from the tree..
“Try to remember that I done some good.” and then remember that he done it to.
A low life family that acts just like street punks.
Wow AKM, good post. The arrogance of those folks as they come out of court is just amazing to me.
At least he didn’t get off. But that sentence is way too little. And like someone else said, he’ll probably be out before he serves half of it. So what are his children up to now? Do you think any of them have learned from daddy that crime doesn’t pay? Yeah, probably not. They’ve just learned they have to be sneakier.
The next time we hear a powerful citizen, candidate or lawmaker invoke their best intentions for the Great Big Wild Life Frost-heaving fireweed blooming momma-bear Rearing protecting glacier running calving patriotic Duck sittin fish flowing hunt eatin proud mountains State of Alaska, we all done better start hoofin it. Also. Too.
Thanks AKM! That was great reporting and drawing! Like you–and the judge had I actually had to listen to that unmitigated bs I would have been pretty irritated. In fact, I think the judge should have added six months for wasting the court’s time. But reading your version I literally laughed out loud. Thanks for the best laugh of the day!
Some day you should create a section of the site with all of the great mudflats photos and artwork and the sitting duck should definitely be in there.
You done some good reportin’ there AKM.
(I really needed a laugh tonight and you made it possible. Thanks!!)
Will somebody give me one of those “Law and Order” bah-bumps? When I think of the cell door slamming behind him, I need to have that particular sound effect.
He won’t be out in just 3 months. Too bad the judge stuck him with concurrent sentences instead of the consecutive types.
The woman in the front seat has no shame. But she at least did not label the questions as stupid. Maybe there’s a brain in there, but I doubt it.
This whole thing is really sad.
You have to give the guy credit for going from just being another hand on an oil rig to being the head of a multi-national company. It takes a lot of hard work, smarts, and some dumb luck to pull off that kind of feat.
I also remember when one of his IT guys had a tragic accident riding his motorcycle home from a softball game. He ended up a quadraplegic. Mr. Allen was supportive and held his job open for months while he was out of state in rehab, then made sure accommodations were made so he could come back to work. Mr. Allen never made a big deal out of it – he just did it because he wanted to do the right thing by this young man and his family.
I always thought he was a male chauvinist, and I can’t say I ever wanted to hang out with the guy, but he really did do some good. Too bad he chose to do the things he will be most remembered for.
@AKM, it’s probably good you didn’t do the “YESSS” dance when you won the pool. The judge was probably so wired by then he would have hit you with a contempt.
@49 ValleyIndependent: Bill Allen reminds me of a fellow down in San Jose who went into the slammer ten or so years ago. He was the patriarch of a big Italian family and owned (among many other things) a legal poker club. It turned out that he also was involved in a lot of illegal things as well, of which bribing city officials was a relatively small part.
When sentencing time finally rolled around, there were, literally, hundreds of letters to the judge, from all manner of people and organizations, asking for leniency because of his many public and private charitable activities, his financial support for civic activities, his excellent treatment of his employees, the many times he gave somebody a financial leg up, etc.
These testimonials were, evidently, true, and mostly unsolicited. The guy was really quite generous and caring and civic-minded and all that. The thing is, he was also a huge crook, and the money that he so generously spread around was basically stolen — from investors, from the city, from fraudulent tax returns.
The folks who sent letters on his behalf thought he was great, because he helped them, or someone they knew, or some cause they supported; but they never thought about where the money came from, or how its loss affected those from whom it was taken.
The judge lightened his sentence a little bit.
So. What did you win?
Can’t wait to see the “lame duck” who quacked through her resignation speech in court for some of her dealings!
Wow, your friend worked very hard on that quilt. My mother-in-law was really good at doing quilts. What allot of detailed work she put into it. You must be pretty special for her to make it for you.