Sen. Ted Stevens found guilty of financial disclosure violations
By Richard B. Schmitt
3:19 PM PDT, October 27, 2008
Reporting from Washington — A federal jury today found Sen. Ted Stevens of Alaska guilty on all seven counts of failing to disclose thousands of dollars in gifts and home improvements in violation of Senate rules.
The unanimous verdict in the corruption trial was announced in U.S. District Court. U.S. District Judge Emmet G. Sullivan, at the request of Stevens' lawyers, polled the jurors individually, asking whether they agreed with the verdict, and each said he did. Stevens sat stoically in the packed courtroom at the time of sentencing, flanked by his attorney, famed trial lawyer Brendan Sullivan, who appeared to try to comfort his client after the jury pronounced its verdict.
The verdict came the same day that the jury began its deliberations anew after one juror left abruptly late last week to attend a funeral in California. Stevens, 84, has been in the Senate since 1968 and is the longest-serving Republican in Senate history. He has been a fixture in Alaska politics since before statehood.
In Washington, he had served as the powerful chairman or ranking minority member of the Appropriations Committee, steering federal money toward Alaska. In 2000, the state Legislature named the Anchorage International Airport after him.
Because of his seniority, he served briefly as president pro tem of the Senate, which put him third in line for the presidency, after the vice president and speaker of the House.
He is seeking re-election next Tuesday to a seventh term, and has been in a close contest with his Democrat rival, the mayor of Anchorage. His conviction does not automatically bar him from serving in the Senate.
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Originally Posted by T-Bird76
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