A adil.'COmAnchorage Daily Newso oPrint Page I Close WindowWitheach plan came complaints about backroomdeals.Push for private prison was downfallGUILTY PLEA: house official was accused in conspiracy scheme.By TOMKIZZIAtkizzia@adn.com(08/12/0800:06: 10)Anpoliticalbattle over private prisons in Alaskakept the state's jai!-buildingefforts tiedin knots for adecade,endingonly in2005 after complaints oflobbyinghelped turnlegislative sentiment against theidea.A driVingforce for privatizingprisons throughout that time wasBill Weimar,the former halfway house official whopleaded guilty Monday in U.S. District Court to conspiringtomake illegal payments to a legislative candidatein2004.Weimar was theprincipal spokesman for the first twoprivate-prisonproposals to surface in the1990s, but fadedinto the backgroundafter selli.n'ghis halfway houses in1998 to Cornell Corrections, a national prisoncompanybased in Houston. @Evenas late as the summer of 2004,however,when the private prisonideawas onits last legs,Weimar held asubstantialinterest in the deal, standingto make $5.5million if a private prison was ever built,accordingto thefederal chargingdocuments filedMonday.AmongWeimar's private-prison partners,. at least for much of the timehe waspushingthe idea: Veco Corp..Resortingboth torawpoliticalmu?cle andtohigh-flown sentiments about savingmoney andbringing Nativeprisoners home,backers of theprivate prisons wonlegislative support for successive plans aimedat Anchorage,Delta Junction, Kenai and Whittier. Twoprisondeals were approved, andtwoothers made it through the stateHouse. Competing proposals to buildstate-run facilities were shovedaside.But eachprivate planeventually died,fallingvictimtolocalopposition, resistancefromprison guard unions andskepticismfromRepublica!1 andDemocratic governors. .Meanwhile the number of state prisoners shipped to theLower 48 because of inadequate space here grew tomore than800. A new 1,500'-bed prisonnow beingbuilt in theMat-SuBoroughis intended tobringmany of those inmates back to Alaska.Through the years, debate centeredon whether inmates couldbe housedreliably andcheaply in a facilitydesignedandrunby a for-profit firm.The stakes werehigh: a 25-year prison deal, worth $1billion,wquldhavebeen the largest state-private contract in Alaskahistory. FBI_Stevens-2006PARTNERS INCLUDED VECOCorrections Group North, the original joint venturepushinga private deal,includednot only CornellandWeimar's company, Allvest,but the well-connected oil fieldservices andconstruction firm Veco. Some of _Juneau's top lobbyists workedfor the cause,and theyhad strong advocates intheLegislature.Amongthe elected leaders were theHouse Finance chairman, Rep. EldonMulder, R-Anchorage,whose then-wifeworkedwith Cornell lobbyist Joe Hayes, andformer state Sen.Jerry Ward, wh() hadties to theKenai NativesAssociation,a Cornell partner. Ward's real estate firmmanagedpull tabparlors for theKenai Native group. "Wnat I see,over a!1dover,-is-repeatedsole-sourcei pre-arrangedlheavy-money deals that go to specific.. u It's been a clean,competitiveproposal,"Rep. Eric Croft, !?-Anchorage, complainedin a (2.2004 "We to see somebody indiCted andimprisoned over this-series of.. V . V.,1., The first proposedprivate prison wouldhave beenbuilt on Veco-ownedland in South Anchorage. A contract wasapproved by the House in 1997, but with a Senate vote pendingthe idea was withdrawn on the eve of a citywidevote.Anchorage voters went ahead toreject the idea'by a 2-1margin -- what one AS,sembly member called"drivinganail in the coffin."The idea quickly rose again, with'help from'Ward,who put together. a plan for facilities in theMat-Su andSeward. The plan was publicly praised by Weimar, but was soon replacedby the idea of locating a private prisonat the mothballed Fort Greely near Delta Junction.A deal with Allvest was approved in 1998, both by local voters andthen theLegislature, But after Weimarbrought Cornellinto the consortiumthat year,a change of sentiment inDelta Junction upendedthe contract. Theprison companies sued and won a settlement of $1.1million.LAST STAND IN WHITTIERThe prison backers bounced back, strikinga deal withKenai Natives Associationandtaking it to theKenaiPeninsula Borough. The boroughassembly invitedproposals fromother firms. Corrections Group North finishedsecond in the bidding, but wasbumpedto first on the strength of its proposed Native-ownedlocation and itspolitical expertise.Thelegislature approvedth'eKenai project inMay 2001,but once again localoppositionwas rising. The boroughassembly decided to seek voter andwhen theproject lost by a 3-1ratiothe plandied.a brief dalliance in Wrangell,private-prisonmade its last standin The isolatedPrinceWilliam Soundport jumpedon board withinsix weeks of the Kenai vote. But momentum in Juneauwasbeginningto slacken.For three legislative sessions the private prison issue was debatedwithout a decision.By the summer of 2004, Veco was out of the consortiumandthe Whjttier planwaslimpingalo,ng. That's when,accordingto the chargeshe pleaaedguilty toonMonday,Weimar made illegal payments to a legislativecandidate in return for th'e candidate supportingthe project. The effort failed, andinMarch 2005 Whittierannounced It was done \:'lith. theCornell continuedwithits halfway houses in Alaskabut said it wasno longer .interestedin pursuinga privateprisonin Alaska._ Print Page I Close WindowCopyright Tue Aug 12 15:32:43 UTC-0800 20081900 The Anchorage Dally New.s (www.adn.com)FBI - Stevens-2007 -adn.comAnchorage Daily NewsoPrint Page Close Window ICowdery pleads not guilty CHARGES: Lawmaker's attorney says indictment a 'mistake.'By SEANCOCKERHAMscockerham@adn.com(08/12/0802:12:32)Anchorage state Sen, John Cowdery pleaded not guilty to federal corruption chargesMonday after his lawyerwheeledhim into court ina wheelchair. -U.S.marshals fingerprintedCowdery and took his passport,and a magistrate allowedhimto go free on $5,000bond. U.S. District Court Judge RalphBeistline will preside over Cowdery's trial, whichis set for Oct. 6 inAnchorage.The 78-year-old Cowdery facesa maximum of 15 years in federal prison if convicted on the two corruptioncharges. He is accused of schemingexecutives of Veco Corp. to try to buy the vote of a fel!ow state senator,Nome Democrat Donny Olson,in order tokeep state oiltaxes down.Olsonhas not been charged. He says he didn't get anyJhing fromVeco anddidn't do its bidding.Cowdery saidlittle incourt Monday. Bothhe andhis attorney, Kevinfitzgerald, declined to speak toreporters.Fitzgeraldtoldthe magistrate that Cowdery continues tobe employedby the state of Alaskaas a legislator; He isnot runningfor re-election this fall. .Cowdery hesitatedbefore replyingwhen Magistrate John Roberts askedhis age. Cowdery,who suffers fromkidney problems,also looked over the'court's list of medIcations he's' on."Maybe that's all I'm taking, my wife knows more thanI do," he toldthe magistrate.Cowdery's Wife, Juanita, observedthe arraignment fromthe public gallery. She was expressionless.Three former Alaska state legislators have already beenconvictedandsentencedaspart of the broa9 FBInfiled -Monday that they believe the caseis fundamentally a Washington, D.C.-based one,since thecase centers' on' disciosure form's'Stevens filedwiththe U.S.Senate..FindErikaBolstad online at or call her inWashington, D.C., at 202-383-6104.CoPV.rlght @ Frl Aug15 08:48:57 UTC-08PO 20081900 The Anchorage Dally News (www.adn.com)FBI - Stevens-2020ALASKA'S NEIAISPAPERQ}hello Anchorage!'"adn..com...tJl-":"* t;.::..f ,'If... ".--:'1:',1..:"..,j 1f'"'.I...r i .,,,1-'1-'