Jim Clark, former Gov. Frank Murkowski's chief of staff, now has a date for his sentencing on corruption charges, but it's not until Oct. 15, 2010.
Expressing frustration over the pace of the Alaska corruption investigation but acknowledging there were legitimate reasons for delays, U.S. District Judge John Sedwick on Thursday said Clark will face prison only after the expected trial of former Rep. Bruce Weyhrauch, R-Juneau.
Clark, who pleaded guilty in March 2008 to conspiring to violate Alaska's campaign finance laws, is expected to testify for the government in Weyhrauch's case.
Clark was one of the core players in the Murkowski administration's efforts to change oil taxes and promote construction of a gas line from the North Slope. He will likely testify about the politics and legislative maneuvers that surrounded those matters in 2006.
Sedwick ordered Thursday's hearing after federal prosecutors filed a motion to delay Clark's sentencing for the fourth time. Most of the hearing was held in secret at the request of trial attorney Kendall Day of the Justice Department's Public Integrity Section to allow him to discuss pending cases that might require Clark's testimony.
Sedwick opened the doors to his courtroom after about 20 minutes and acknowledged the public's concern "about the passage of time" in the investigation, which became public with a series of raids on legislative offices on Aug. 31, 2006. Twelve people have since been charged, though the most prominent, former U.S. Sen. Ted Stevens, had his indictment dismissed for prosecutorial misconduct after a jury found him guilty of lying on his Senate disclosures.
Clark, a Juneau resident, didn't attend the Thursday morning hearing in Anchorage, though his attorney, Patrick Gilmore, was there.
In his guilty plea, Clark admitted taking an unreported, $68,550 contribution from the oil-field service company Veco to help Murkowski's failed re-election bid in 2006. Clark has offered to help prosecutors and has apologized to the citizens of Alaska for his misdeeds, which he said were done without Murkowski's knowledge.
Prosecutors wanted to delay Clark's sentencing until he was no longer needed in any future case. That would allow them leverage to ensure he stuck to his bargain and would also allow Clark to get full credit for his assistance when Sedwick decides on his punishment.
But Sedwick has been growing impatient with the pace of the cases. He recently rejected a similar prosecution bid to grant blanket delays in the sentencings of two former Veco officials who also pleaded guilty, chief executive Bill Allen and vice president Rick Smith. They are currently scheduled for sentencing Oct. 28, though Sedwick said he might grant an additional delay if prosecutors could present him with a firm justification.
In the case of Clark, Sedwick acknowledged that prosecutors faced extenuating circumstances. Pre-trial appeals by prosecutors and Weyhrauch over the scope of one of his charges have landed the case in the U.S. Supreme Court, which won't rule on the matter until its next session. Sedwick has scheduled Weyhrauch's trial for September 2010, anticipating a Supreme Court decision by then.
Sedwick also recognized that a new team of federal prosecutors and agents have taken over the case "who don't have the benefit of what was learned by their predecessors."
The prior team was taken off the case after they became the focus of an internal Justice Department investigation and a criminal contempt investigation by a special prosecutor hired by the judge in the Stevens case. Those investigations are not expected to be resolved until the fall.
The first team -- especially lead FBI agent Mary Beth Kepner -- saw the events of the 2006 legislative debate on oil taxes unfold before their eyes with a peeper scope secretly installed at corruption central: Suite 604 at the Baranof Hotel in Juneau, rented by Veco. Allen and Smith were videotaped handing out cash and favors to legislators in return for support in holding down oil taxes.
Find Richard Mauer online at adn.com/contact/rmauer or call 257-4345.
By RICHARD MAUER
rmauer@adn.com