The indictment focuses on improvements to Stevens' home in Girdwood, Alaska, a onetime gold-mining town about 40 miles southeast of Anchorage that touts itself as the state's only year-round resort community. The remodeling more than doubled the home's size, starting in the summer of 2000, when Stevens and Allen first discussed the project, according to the indictment.
Over the ensuing six years, "Stevens accepted from Allen and VECO more than $250,000 in free labor, materials and other things of value" in connection with the home improvements, according to the indictment. "Stevens never paid Allen or VECO anything for these expenses, and Stevens never listed his receipt of these things of value on any of his yearly financial disclosure forms," the indictment says.
At one point, according to the indictment, the renovation work included jacking up and resting the house on stilts and building a new first floor with two bedrooms and a bathroom. Wraparound decks reportedly were added to the first and second floors along with a garage with a workshop. VECO employees and contractors allegedly bought and installed fixtures and kitchen appliances.
Stevens reportedly monitored the progress of the work closely. "We've never worked with a man so easy to get along with," Stevens said in a September 2000 e-mail to Allen, lauding the work of a VECO employee. "You . . . have been the spark plugs and we are really pleased with all you have done."
The indictment says that Allen also helped Stevens outfit the remodeled home with "new and used furniture, a new stationary tool storage cabinet with new tools, and a new professional Viking gas grill."
The indictment also accuses Stevens of accepting a $40,000 Land Rover Discovery from Allen in 1999 in exchange for a 1964 Ford Mustang that Stevens owned plus $5,000. The Ford was worth less than $20,000. The indictment said that Stevens wanted the new vehicle for one of his children.
Several other past and present Republican members of Congress are under investigation by Justice Department anti-corruption lawyers. Some political observers believe bringing charges in an election year could sway some voters.
At a news conference where the indictment of Stevens was announced, Matthew Friedrich, acting chief of the department's criminal division, said the election would not affect the timing or decision to bring any additional charges.
"When we bring cases as prosecutors, we bring cases based upon our evaluation of the facts and the law, and we bring cases when they are ready to be charged, and . . . that's what has happened here," he said.
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rick.schmitt@latimes.com
janet.hook@latimes.com
Times staff writers Nicole Gaouette and Chuck Neubauer contributed to this report.
