Anchorage--
Jim Clark's attorney has asked the court to throw out the case against him on the grounds that the Supreme Court's decision earlier this year cutting back on the scope of the honest-services fraud statute means that the former Chief of Staff to Alaska Gov. Frank Murkowski no longer faces a valid criminal charge. As Mark Regan and I have discussed, the delays the prosecution has allowed before Clark's sentencing has given Clark the time to make this request. Clark's sentencing is currently set for October 10, and this motion all but guarantees that the sentencing will be again delayed. Clark's request also raises the chances that the sentencing will never occur.
I promise there's more to come. My blogging has been slow lately in part because of the "Cost-Effective Justice" forum set for Saturday, and when that's done I'll be able to focus on producing more posts for you.
Showing posts with label Frank Murkowski. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Frank Murkowski. Show all posts
Thursday, September 16, 2010
Saturday, October 24, 2009
Judge Sedwick Announces that He Thinks that the Federal Probe into Alaska Public Corruption Will Produce No New Defendants
Anchorage--
Mark Regan has done an excellent job in a series of posts regarding the recent flurry of filings in the Bill Allen and Rick Smith cases, and I thank him again (while hoping that he’ll keep going).
I want to underscore one point that Mark touched on briefly. Bill Allen asked for a four-month delay in his sentencing based in part on the theory that he needs to stay out of prison to testify against other people to be charged in the federal investigation into public corruption investigation in Alaska. In rejecting this request, U.S. District Court Judge John Sedwick announced that he thinks it is highly unlikely that the federal investigation will produce any new defendants beyond those already charged.
“[G]iven the passage of time and the obstacles created by the questionable conduct of the lawyers and the investigators who previously represented the interests of the United States, the only person whose future prosecution is anything more than sheer speculation is former legislator Bruce Weyhrauch,” Judge Sedwick wrote. He added that “Seeking a chance to cooperate in the prosecution of other potential corruption defendants is entirely speculative at this juncture.” (Emphasis added.)
The “other potential corruption defendants” most discussed are of course former State Senate President Ben Stevens (R.-Anchorage) and U.S. Rep. Don Young (R.-Alaska). One odd feature of Bill Allen's sentencing hearing is that the government will try to get Judge Sedwick to sentence Allen in part for his activities with Ben Stevens and Don Young while the government has never charged Ben Stevens and Don Young for any crimes relating to Allen (or anybody else).
Some have speculated that the feds have thrown in the towel on indicting additional people in the “POLAR PEN” probe, but don't want to admit it while they figure out who else--like Bill Allen--to blame for ending the investigation. One piece of evidence apparently cutting against this proposition is the extension of more than one year Judge Sedwick gave in August on the sentencing of Jim Clark, the former Chief of Staff to ex-Gov. Frank Murkowski. I have previously speculated on this blog that this delay in Clark’s sentencing meant that the feds wanted to milk Clark for more dirt on Ben Stevens and Frank Murkowski. If the folding up the tents theory is correct, however, the real reasons to hold off on sentencing Clark might have been to keep him out to testify against former State Rep. Bruce Weyhrauch (the reason suggested in the order) or to wait until after Allen was sentenced to establish a benchmark in sentencing Clark.
The feds generally do not announce either that (a) we aren't going to indict Mr. X or (b) this investigation is over, although they have occasionally said some version of (a) or (b) if specifically asked. The sentencing hearings for Bill Allen and Rick Smith on Wednesday morning may include more clues on the future of the federal government's “POLAR PEN” probe.
Mark Regan has done an excellent job in a series of posts regarding the recent flurry of filings in the Bill Allen and Rick Smith cases, and I thank him again (while hoping that he’ll keep going).
I want to underscore one point that Mark touched on briefly. Bill Allen asked for a four-month delay in his sentencing based in part on the theory that he needs to stay out of prison to testify against other people to be charged in the federal investigation into public corruption investigation in Alaska. In rejecting this request, U.S. District Court Judge John Sedwick announced that he thinks it is highly unlikely that the federal investigation will produce any new defendants beyond those already charged.
“[G]iven the passage of time and the obstacles created by the questionable conduct of the lawyers and the investigators who previously represented the interests of the United States, the only person whose future prosecution is anything more than sheer speculation is former legislator Bruce Weyhrauch,” Judge Sedwick wrote. He added that “Seeking a chance to cooperate in the prosecution of other potential corruption defendants is entirely speculative at this juncture.” (Emphasis added.)
The “other potential corruption defendants” most discussed are of course former State Senate President Ben Stevens (R.-Anchorage) and U.S. Rep. Don Young (R.-Alaska). One odd feature of Bill Allen's sentencing hearing is that the government will try to get Judge Sedwick to sentence Allen in part for his activities with Ben Stevens and Don Young while the government has never charged Ben Stevens and Don Young for any crimes relating to Allen (or anybody else).
Some have speculated that the feds have thrown in the towel on indicting additional people in the “POLAR PEN” probe, but don't want to admit it while they figure out who else--like Bill Allen--to blame for ending the investigation. One piece of evidence apparently cutting against this proposition is the extension of more than one year Judge Sedwick gave in August on the sentencing of Jim Clark, the former Chief of Staff to ex-Gov. Frank Murkowski. I have previously speculated on this blog that this delay in Clark’s sentencing meant that the feds wanted to milk Clark for more dirt on Ben Stevens and Frank Murkowski. If the folding up the tents theory is correct, however, the real reasons to hold off on sentencing Clark might have been to keep him out to testify against former State Rep. Bruce Weyhrauch (the reason suggested in the order) or to wait until after Allen was sentenced to establish a benchmark in sentencing Clark.
The feds generally do not announce either that (a) we aren't going to indict Mr. X or (b) this investigation is over, although they have occasionally said some version of (a) or (b) if specifically asked. The sentencing hearings for Bill Allen and Rick Smith on Wednesday morning may include more clues on the future of the federal government's “POLAR PEN” probe.
Thursday, August 6, 2009
Jim Clark Looks Likely to Be Free for Another Year
Anchorage--
Here is some news and some rank speculation concerning the closed hearing this morning about the timing of the sentencing of Jim Clark, former Chief of Staff to former Gov. Frank Murkowski.
The news is short enough to print in full. Judge John Sedwick issued an order reading "The sentencing in this case is CONTINUED until October 15, 2010 at 8:30 a.m. ...If the case of U.S. v. Weyhrauch...is resolved at the trial court level prior to September of 2010, the court will move Mr. Clark's sentencing to an earlier date."
Now for the rank speculation.
This order makes it look like the government said today that it was going to call Clark as a witness against former State Rep. Bruce Weyhrauch (R.-Juneau), whose case has been sidetracked on a pre-trial appeal that will be considered by the U.S. Supreme Court during its 2009-2010 term.
I find it difficult to believe that Judge Sedwick let the government keep Jim Clark free for another 14 months just so he could be ready to testify against Weyhrauch, particularly given that the judge had already explicitly said that Clark could be brought out of prison for purposes of testifying if that was the only reason not to put him in. It's possible that Clark's attorney pointed to some unusual medical problems as a reason to keep Clark out of prison now, but the specific--and particular--sentencing date as well as the reference to Weyhrauch's case militate against that as being the reason behind today's order.
It strikes me as likely that the prosecutors also said that they needed to milk Clark for more information on what happened regarding corruption involving the development and consideration of oil tax legislation in 2005 and 2006 and that in today's 19-minute closed hearing they gave Judge Sedwick enough to accept that argument as a reason to keep Clark out of prison for another 14 months beyond the 17 months he's already been out. Note that October of 2010 is also five years--the general federal statute of limitations--past the start of the time when most criminal activity appeared to have occurred regarding the Petroleum Profits Tax (PPT) legislation. As to who the targets of that continued debriefing of Clark would be, the obvious guesses would be former State Senate President Ben Stevens (R.-Anchorage) and Frank Murkowski. (Neither of the latter two have been charged, Ben Stevens has repeatedly denied any wrongoing, and Frank Murkowski's well-known hands-off approach to his job might serve as a good defense to any criminal charge.)
The bottom line is that Jim Clark looks likely to be free to enjoy the whole Alaska winter--as well as next summer--while former VECO executives and admitted bribers Bill Allen and Rick Smith appear headed for prison this fall.
(Hat tip to the astute reader who flagged this order and asked me good questions about it.)
Update: I cleaned up the spacing and added the job title for Ben Stevens.
Here is some news and some rank speculation concerning the closed hearing this morning about the timing of the sentencing of Jim Clark, former Chief of Staff to former Gov. Frank Murkowski.
The news is short enough to print in full. Judge John Sedwick issued an order reading "The sentencing in this case is CONTINUED until October 15, 2010 at 8:30 a.m. ...If the case of U.S. v. Weyhrauch...is resolved at the trial court level prior to September of 2010, the court will move Mr. Clark's sentencing to an earlier date."
Now for the rank speculation.
This order makes it look like the government said today that it was going to call Clark as a witness against former State Rep. Bruce Weyhrauch (R.-Juneau), whose case has been sidetracked on a pre-trial appeal that will be considered by the U.S. Supreme Court during its 2009-2010 term.
I find it difficult to believe that Judge Sedwick let the government keep Jim Clark free for another 14 months just so he could be ready to testify against Weyhrauch, particularly given that the judge had already explicitly said that Clark could be brought out of prison for purposes of testifying if that was the only reason not to put him in. It's possible that Clark's attorney pointed to some unusual medical problems as a reason to keep Clark out of prison now, but the specific--and particular--sentencing date as well as the reference to Weyhrauch's case militate against that as being the reason behind today's order.
It strikes me as likely that the prosecutors also said that they needed to milk Clark for more information on what happened regarding corruption involving the development and consideration of oil tax legislation in 2005 and 2006 and that in today's 19-minute closed hearing they gave Judge Sedwick enough to accept that argument as a reason to keep Clark out of prison for another 14 months beyond the 17 months he's already been out. Note that October of 2010 is also five years--the general federal statute of limitations--past the start of the time when most criminal activity appeared to have occurred regarding the Petroleum Profits Tax (PPT) legislation. As to who the targets of that continued debriefing of Clark would be, the obvious guesses would be former State Senate President Ben Stevens (R.-Anchorage) and Frank Murkowski. (Neither of the latter two have been charged, Ben Stevens has repeatedly denied any wrongoing, and Frank Murkowski's well-known hands-off approach to his job might serve as a good defense to any criminal charge.)
The bottom line is that Jim Clark looks likely to be free to enjoy the whole Alaska winter--as well as next summer--while former VECO executives and admitted bribers Bill Allen and Rick Smith appear headed for prison this fall.
(Hat tip to the astute reader who flagged this order and asked me good questions about it.)
Update: I cleaned up the spacing and added the job title for Ben Stevens.
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