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JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) - For several thousand dollars and other promises, an Alaska legislator and two former lawmakers threw their support behind a tax scheme and a natural gas pipeline plan that would have benefited an oil services company, prosecutors said.
The three men, Rep. Victor Kohring of Wasilla, and former state Reps. Pete Kott of Eagle River and Bruce Weyhrauch of Juneau, were arrested Friday but deny wrongdoing. The three Republicans pleaded not guilty at their arraignments.
Kohring was charged with extortion, attempted extortion, bribery and conspiracy, according to a federal grand jury indictment unsealed Friday. Kott and Weyhrauch each entered their pleas to four counts, including conspiracy to commit extortion, extortion, bribery and fraud. If convicted of all charges, each of the men could face up to 55 years in prison and a $1 million fine.
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