Another former Alaska legislator pleads guilty to bribery conspiracy

Beverly L. Masek, a former elected member of Alaska's House of Representatives, pleaded guilty on March 12 in Anchorage to one count of conspiring to commit bribery, the US Department of Justice said.

Masek's plea came before U.S. District Judge Ralph Beistline in federal court. In court documents, she admitted to conspiring with Bill J. Allen, the former chief executive officer of Veco Corp., a now-defunct multinational oilfield services company, and Richard L. Smith, a former Veco vice president, to soliciting and accepting bribes, Acting Assistant US Attorney General Rita M. Glavin of DOJ's Criminal Division said.

She said that Masek admitted receiving cash payments from Allen and soliciting a consulting position with Veco in 2003 in exchange for agreeing to perform and actually performing official acts that benefited Allen and Veco's business interests. Allen and Smith both pleaded guilty to multiple federal corruption charges in May 2007 and are awaiting sentencing.

Masek has been scheduled for sentencing on May 28. She faces up to five years in prison and a $250,000 fine, DOJ said.

It said that including her guilty plea and those of Allen and Smith, 11 criminal convictions have arisen so far from the federal law enforcement department's investigation of public corruption in Alaska, including five former state legislators, a former governor's chief of staff and then-US Sen. Ted Stevens (R-Alas.) who was found guilty on Oct. 27 of making false statements on his required Senate financial disclosures from 2001 through 2006.

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