Why Haven't the Feds Indicted Jerry Ward?

This blog is pleased to present another guest post from Mark Regan:

Fairbanks--

Why hasn’t Jerry Ward been prosecuted?

After all, Bill Weimar pled guilty in 2008 to crimes involving an “understanding” with Ward that if Weimar helped Ward retire his debt, Ward would support Weimar’s private prison proposal; the Feds told Ward back in November 2008 that he had become a target of their investigation; and a day or so after the Feds told Ward this, he apparently helped Dave Anderson send in complaints about the Ted Stevens investigation which included the claim that the Feds had promised immunity to a whole raft of people connected with Dave Anderson, including Jerry Ward, but then had gone back on their promise.

Problem # 1: The case against Ward might depend on the honest services statute. The core of Weimar’s plea was that he had conspired with Ward to deprive the public of Ward’s honest services, if and when Ward was elected. The U.S. Supreme Court seems poised to invalidate or at least drastically limit the honest services statute.

Problem # 2: Ward didn’t win the election. So maybe he never got into the position to deprive anyone of his honest services, or to do anything in response to an anticipatory bribe from Weimar.

Problem # 3: The federal prosecutors who are themselves being investigated are at the heart of the Ward/Anderson problem. Statements from them about Ward and Anderson, saying that they didn’t promise immunity to Ward or other people associated with Anderson, are all over the Ted Stevens court file. Maybe the replacement prosecutors don’t want to go ahead with an indictment of Ward until or unless the prior prosecutors are cleared of wrongdoing in the Ted Stevens case.

Problem # 3A: Maybe the Feds really did promise immunity to Jerry Ward. Weirder things have happened ... naaah.

Problem # 4: Maybe someone could indict Ward for preparing a false affidavit signed by Anderson, or for obstructing justice; but if the Polar Pen investigation is stalled, going after Jerry Ward for obstructing it might not be a politic thing to do.

--Mark Regan