Pete Kott trial: Rick Smith testimony

Posted by Anchorage Daily News

Anchorage Daily News

Posted: October 2, 2007 - 12:02 am

Listen to excerpts from courtroom testimony and FBI surveillance recordings used in the political corruption trial of former Rep. Pete Kott.

Audio: FBI phone taps | Bill Allen testimony | Rick Smith testimony | Opening statements | Closing statements

Video: FBI hidden surveillance (contains graphic language)

- updates from the courtroom: Alaska Politics blog
- former Rep. Pete Kott trial coverage

Note: Many of these audio files are long and may take your computer several minutes to download. As long as a pop-up window is launched when clicked, the audio will eventually

Many of these recordings contain graphic language.

Former Veco vice president, Rick Smith, took the stand Sept. 17th in the political corruption trial of former Rep. Pete Kott.

Audio: Part 1
Smith recalls Kott was looking for a job with the state; talks about his VECO salary and bonuses.

Audio: Part 2
Smith says VECO paid for his legal representation up until VECO sold, then VECO gave him a blanket payment of $500,000 to pay his legal bills.

Audio: Part 3
Smith says Allen called and asked Smith to meet him the morning of Aug. 31 at Allen's home, where FBI agents asked him to cooperate in the investigation.

Audio: Part 4
Smith says he often cashed checks from golf tournaments at the Buckeroo Club.

Audio: Part 5
Smith says a transcript provided to him does not refresh his memory of who he spoke with at the Buckeroo Club.

Audio: Part 6
Smith recalls asking Kott to get LeDoux to support the gas line with North Slope producers' proposal in fall of '05. He was aware that Murkowski's administration was negotiating with the oil producers.

Audio: Part 7
Smith says at the end of the last special session in late summer 2006, VECO thought no PPT would be better than a PPT without 20/20.

Audio: Part 8
Smith says Kott told Smith he'd file a motion to rescind the vote for a 21.5 tax rate that passed May 7, 2006.

Audio: Part 9
Smith says he was concerned that if PPT exempted Cook Inlet producers such as Marathon Oil, it would negatively affect the PPT bill's progress.

Audio: Part 10
Smith recalls a conversation at the Baranof with Kott regarding Ethan Berkowitz around May 7 in which Kott said he tricked Berkowitz into voting.

Audio: Part 11
Smith says that in a conversation with Bill Allen, the word "tainted" was a reference to doing something illegal.

Audio: Part 12
Smith says the conversation that contained the word "tainted" also included a conversation about looking good in clients' eyes.

Audio: Part 13
Smith says the word "tainted" referred to a payment to Pete Kott for Pete Kott Jr.; talks about 20-40 phone calls he made wearing a wire in cooperation with the FBI.

Audio: Part 14
Smith says the FBI did not ask him to call or meet with Kott while Smith was wired, but he had 5 to 10 meetings with others requested by the FBI.

Audio: Part 15
Smith says he hired Tom Anderson at VECO on a "sham" contract; that he was not involved with a contract for Ben Stevens, and that Kott never had a contract to work for VECO. Smith says he organized pig roasts to raise funds for Don Young's campaign for a decade.

Audio: Part 16
Smith talks about the May 7, 2006, conversation at the Baranoff with Kott and others concerning Ethan Berkowitz, and Kott's comments on 20/20.

Audio: Part 17
Smith says that on May 8, 2006, Kott was clear about his support for 20/20 and indicated other legislators would support it too.

Audio: Part 18
Smith talks about the process of getting PPT proposals, and how VECO felt there would never be a gas pipeline with out involving North Slope producers.

Audio: Part 19
Smith says Jerry Mackie told Kott about the poll VECO ordered, and Kott approved. Smith says the plea agreement with the FBI requires him to cooperate and tell the truth, without guarantee of a reduced sentence.

Audio: Part 20
Government's witness Linda Croft, former assistant to Bill Allen, recalls preparing a $12,000 check to Kotts flooring company without an invoice, and a second check to Kotts flooring with an invoice.

Audio: Part 21
Croft says she often wrote checks out of Allen's personal checkbook and stamped them with his signature, and it was not unusual to write a check without an invoice.

Audio: Part 22
Croft says Allen occasionally asked her to write checks to Smith, but does not recall writing checks on Smith's behalf. Croft says the second check to Kott's flooring was signed by Allen himself, not stamped.

Pete Kott trial: Rick Smith testimony

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