Asking for leniency and a sentence of only six months in prison, Bill Allen wants a federal judge to look beyond his corruption of Alaska politics to a life of charity and job creation in the state.
In pleadings in advance of his sentencing Wednesday, attorneys for Allen, the former chief executive of Veco Corp., described a man who came a long way from humble, hardscrabble beginnings. Letters from family and friends speak of Allen's Depression-era childhood in a narrative that could have emerged from the pages of a Steinbeck novel.
"Clearly, the crimes to which he pled guilty were an aberration -- prior to his actions which led to his guilty plea, Mr. Allen led a law-abiding life full of kindness and charity," his attorneys wrote.
But that narrative ignores allegations that he maintained sexual relationships with underaged girls and asked two women to lie under oath about his sexual relationship with them, or that he first got caught violating laws governing political campaign finance in 1985.
Even as Allen prepared to learn his punishment for bribery and conspiracy from U.S. District Judge John Sedwick, newly unsealed documents in a related case provide a more detailed look at the ongoing police investigation of Allen's relationship with underage girls.
Allen has denied the accusations surrounding the girls and has told the FBI he never asked anyone to give false testimony. Because Allen hasn't been charged with a crime in connection with those allegations, they won't figure in Sedwick's sentencing decisions.
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