California prison to house Kohring

PALMER — Former Alaska legislator Vic Kohring will apparently serve his 42-month federal prison sentence in California instead of Oregon, as he had thought. Kohring said he was summoned to the federal courthouse in Anchorage last week, where he was given notice of the change.

“Life is not good for me right now,” Kohring said while at the Palmer courthouse Thursday. Kohring would only say he was at the courthouse to help a friend.

The change in prisons will see Kohring serving time at a minimum-security federal prison in Taft, Calif., about 120 miles north of Los Angeles. He contends the change was made by federal Judge John Sedwick to further hurt him. Kohring has maintained Sedwick has a bias against him because Sedwick’s wife was a former political adversary of Kohring’s when he was a state House member. Kohring unsuccessfully tried to get a new trial and to have Sedwick removed from his case.

The former seven-time Mat-Su Valley lawmaker was convicted last year on bribery and other charges for accepting money from former VECO oil services company executives in exchange for political favors on oil legislation. He was sentenced earlier this month and has until June 30 to report to the state Department of Corrections to begin serving his time.

Originally, Kohring said he was scheduled to serve time at a federal prison in Sheridan, Ore. That prison would have been a 10-minute drive from where his estranged wife lives and easier for Kohring’s aging parents to visit, he said. Serving time in California will make it very difficult for loved ones to visit.

He said he finds it unfair that former legislators Tom Anderson and Pete Kott — both of whom were part of the same federal corruption investigation that nabbed Kohring — are serving their prison time in Oregon while he will be shipped to California.

The Taft penitentiary is a privately managed secure facilty that houses about 1,750 inmates, according to the federal Bureau of Prisons Web site.

Kohring said he will have surgery today to repair a neck injury at Mat-Su Regional Medical Center.

Kohring maintains his innocence in regard to the bribery, conspiracy and attempted extortion conviction. He said he will continue to appeal and maintains a clear conscience.

Contact Michael Rovito at Michael.rovito@frontiersman.com  or 352-2252.