On Wednesday, almost a full decade after the FBI raided the offices of six Alaska Legislators, the Alaska Legislature’s Select Committee on Legislative Ethics has recommended an $18,100 fine against a former Juneau Representative.
The ethics committee said Juneau Republican Bruce Weyhrauch violated the Legislative Ethics Act by seeking work from oil services company VECO in exchange for pushing legislation that favored the company.
The committee has issued several other opinions on other legislators implicated in the VECO scandal, but the latest before Wednesday’s was in 2012, according to committee records.
In addition to asking Weyhrauch to pay the fine, the committee asked him to write a “public letter of apology” to lawmakers and the public.
According to state law, Weyhrauch can abide by the committee’s request or challenge it in a public hearing or a confidential meeting with a subcommittee.
Weyhrauch, an attorney, represented Juneau in the Legislature for two terms between 2003 and 2006. He defeated Tim Grussendorf in the 2002 election and Bob Doll in 2004.
In Weyhrauch’s final year in office, FBI wiretaps overheard him soliciting work from VECO, which was pushing a bill for lower oil taxes.
Weyhrauch was indicted by a federal grand jury in 2007. The jury supported charges of bribery, extortion, fraud and conspiracy. Fellow legislators Pete Kott and Vic Kohring were also charged.
Kott was convicted and sentenced to 72 months in prison, while Kohring received a 42-month sentence. Both men were released by the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals in 2009 when the Justice Department acknowledged flaws in the federal government’s prosecution of the two men.
In 2011, Weyhrauch pled guilty to a misdemeanor charge of “engaging with unregistered lobbyists” as part of a plea deal with prosecutors. He received a suspended jail sentence a $1,000 fine, and probation.
