U.S. Senator Ted Stevens has been indicted on federal corruption charges by a federal grand jury in Washington DC.
The breaking news came in this morning from NPR and the Associated Press.
Stevens has been indicted on seven counts of failing to disclose thousands of dollars in services he received from a company that helped renovate his home.
From May 1999 to August 2007, prosecutors said the 84-year old senator concealed, quote…his continuing receipt of hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of things of value from a private corporation…unquote.
The 28-page indictment was unsealed on Tuesday and says the items include improvements to his vacation home in Girdwood and a vehicle exchange that involved a vehicle worth much more than the one traded.
Prosecutors say that Stevens took multiple steps to continue receiving things from oil service company, VECO Corporation, and its founder, Bill Allen. VECO’s requests included funding and other aid for VECO’s projects and partnerships in Pakistan and Russia. It also included federal grants from several agencies, as well as help in building a national gas pipeline on the North Slope.
These charges come about a year after an FBI raid on Stevens’ home in Girdwood. Renovations on the home were overseen by Allen and the house doubled in size. Stevens has said he paid all the bills he was presented.
There has been no comment from Stevens’ Senate office or the campaign headquarters in Anchorage.
