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In the Nation
Alaskan bribery figure sentenced
ANCHORAGE, Alaska - The oilfield-services executive at the center of a federal investigation of corruption in Alaska politics was sentenced yesterday to three years in prison and fined $750,000.
Bill Allen, 72, former chairman of VECO Corp., testified on behalf of the government in three cases, including the trial of former U.S. Sen. Ted Stevens, whose federal conviction was thrown out because of prosecutorial misconduct.
Rick Smith, a former VECO vice president, was sentenced to 21 months in prison and fined $10,000. Allen and Smith pleaded guilty in May 2007 to bribery, conspiracy, and conspiracy to impede the Internal Revenue Service.
In phone taps and video images made at a hotel room rented by VECO in Juneau, the FBI recorded Allen promising favors to one key lawmaker for pushing favorable tax legislation and handing cash to another. - AP
Sheriff in balloon case faces probe
FORT COLLINS, Colo. - A special prosecutor has been appointed to investigate an allegation that Larimer County Sheriff Jim Alderden violated privacy laws in the case of the runaway balloon believed to be carrying a young boy.
Richard and Mayumi Heene are accused of lying to authorities for saying their 6-year-old son, Falcon, was on board a balloon launched from their backyard. He turned up safe at home. Alderden called the incident a hoax and Larimer County prosecutors are considering criminal charges against the Heenes.
The Larimer County District Attorney's Office said yesterday that the Boulder D.A.'s office will look into a claim by Richard Heene's lawyer that Alderden broke privacy laws by talking publicly about the involvement of child-welfare workers in the case.
Heene's lawyer, David Lane, announced Tuesday that a prosecutor had been appointed. A spokeswoman for the sheriff said, "He does not believe he violated any laws." - AP
U.S. owner to sell rare czarist relic
NEW YORK - A miniature portrait of Czar Peter the Great in a diamond-encrusted frame - owned for decades by an Arizona family that did not realize its historic significance - is going on the auction block.
The Russian treasure is to be offered Monday at Sotheby's. Its estimated presale value is $80,000 to $120,000. The estate of the original owner, George Roberts, learned of its importance during an appraisal over the summer. Roberts purchased it in 1951 from a London dealer.
Experts believe as few as 10 of the bejeweled miniatures were bestowed by Peter the Great on his subjects for exceptional service to him. Until the latest discovery, only five were known to exist, three of them in museums.
The 31/2-inch-high oval portrait's frame hangs from an imperial crown surrounded with diamonds. - AP
Elsewhere:
The San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge has been closed indefinitely after a rod installed during last month's emergency repairs snapped, causing a traffic nightmare for the 280,000 motorists who cross the landmark span every day.
