Weyhrauch

I. BACKGROUND

Defendant Bruce Weyhrauch, a lawyer, was a member of the Alaska House of Representatives in 2006 while Alaska’s legislature was considering legislation that would alter how the state taxed oil production. According to the criminal indictment against him, VECO Corp., an oil field services company, took an active interest in the legislature’s reconsid- eration of the oil tax, and two of its executives had a series of contacts with Weyhrauch regarding the pending legislation.1 The indictment alleges that Weyhrauch solicited, by mail, telephone and personal contact, future legal work from VECO in exchange for voting on the oil tax legislation as VECO instructed and taking other actions favorable to VECO in Weyhrauch’s capacity as state legislator, such as maneuvering the legislation and reporting information about proposed changes to the legislation to the VECO executives. The indict- ment does not allege that Weyhrauch received any compensa- tion or benefits from VECO or its executives during this period, but alleges facts suggesting that Weyhrauch took the actions favorable to VECO on the understanding that VECO would hire him in the future to provide legal services…