Say Anything Blog

FAIRBANKS—Alaska state Sen. John Cowdery, was indicted on federal bribery and conspiracy charges Wednesday, according to a news release.

The charges came out of a federal investigation into public corruption in the state of Alaska, Acting Assistant Attorney General Matthew Friedrich for the Criminal Division announced today.

The indictment by the federal grand jury alleges that Cowdery and his co-conspirators, including Bill J. Allen, the former chief executive officer of VECO Corp. and Richard L. Smith, VECO’s former vice president, corruptly offered and agreed to give financial benefits to another state legislator, who agreed to perform official acts as a member of the Alaska Legislature.

If convicted, Cowdery faces a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison on the bribery count and a maximum penalty of five years in prison on the conspiracy count, as well as a maximum $250,000 fine for each count.

To date, there have been seven criminal convictions arising out of the ongoing investigation into public corruption in the state of Alaska.