USDOJ Press Release: Bill Allen and Richard Smith, Former Officers of VECO Corporation, Sentenced for Roles in Alaska Public Corruption Scheme

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For Immediate Release
October 28, 2009 United States Attorney's Office
District of Alaska
Contact: (907) 271-5071

Bill Allen and Richard Smith, Former Officers of VECO Corporation, Sentenced for Roles in Alaska Public Corruption Scheme

WASHINGTON—Bill J. Allen and Richard L. Smith were each sentenced in separate hearings today for their participation in a corruption scheme in which they provided approximately $395,000 in corrupt payments to public officials from the state of Alaska, announced Assistant Attorney General Lanny A. Breuer of the Criminal Division. Allen and Smith were sentenced in U.S. District Court for the District of Alaska by U.S. District Court Judge John W. Sedwick.

Allen, 72, the former chief executive officer of VECO Corporation, was sentenced to 36 months in prison, a $750,000 fine and three years of supervised release. Smith, 64, the former vice president of community and government affairs for VECO Corporation, was sentenced to 21 months in prison, a $10,000 fine and three years of supervised release.

Both defendants pleaded guilty on May 7, 2007, to three-count informations charging each with bribery; conspiracy to commit bribery, extortion under color of official right, and honest services mail and wire fraud; and conspiracy to defraud the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) of the U.S. Department of the Treasury. According to court documents, Allen and Smith conspired with at least five members of the Alaska legislature to provide illegal financial benefits to several Alaska elected officials in exchange for those officials’ support on legislation pending before the Alaska state legislature. Allen and Smith also pleaded guilty to one substantive count of bribery, and admitted that they provided approximately $395,000 in benefits to public officials from the state of Alaska in connection with the scheme.

The Allen sentencing was handled by Deputy Chief James M. Trusty of the Criminal Division’s Gang Unit, Trial Attorney Kevin R. Gingras of the Criminal Division’s Appellate Section and Trial Attorney Peter M. Koski of the Criminal Division’s Public Integrity Section. The Smith sentencing was handled by Trial Attorney M. Kendall Day and Deputy Chief Raymond Hulser of the Criminal Division’s Public Integrity Section. The case is being investigated by the FBI and IRS Criminal Investigation