Ted Stevens (R-AK) lost his Senate seat in the last election, but he won’t be going to prison. The US Department of Justice admits it improperly withheld evidence from the trial and has asked the court to vacate Stevens’ conviction on corruption charges.
Stevens, long know as the most effective amasser of pork which he directed back to his home state year after year, was convicted on seven counts of lying on Senate disclosure forms about value received. Much of it was tied to renovations which involved adding a floor to his residence there.
Stevens was a force on the Senate Commerce Committee, and was its chair during the years leading up to his exit after this last election.
The set-aside motion is here:
http://media.adn.com/smedia/2009/04/01/04/Stevens_filing.source.prod_affiliate.7.pdf
RBR/TVBR observation: The dollar amounts involved are suddenly laughable in the face of the kind of figures being batted around daily in the current economic crisis. Although DOJ prosecutors earned a conviction from a jury, they made error after error in trying the case and were constantly in hot water with the bench. The fact that the verdict has been overturned is not surprising in the least. And the loss Stevens did incur – loss of his Senate seat to Democrat Mark Begich, will be seen by many as a fair price if he was in fact guilty. But Stevens never believed he was guilty of anything, so he certainly will not see it that way.
