Former lawmaker sues former VECO CEO, asks for more than $100,000

PALMER — Anyone who thought last month’s guilty plea would be the last time Vic Kohring showed up in court should reconsider.

According to court records, Kohring has filed a lawsuit against Bill Allen — the man he admitted bribed him — and the company Allen owned.

The lawsuit filed in June is for defamation of character. It has yet to reach a point where it has been heard in front of a judge.

According to media reports, Kohring claims that Allen’s actions caused him to be seen as a “corrupt politician convicted of bribery, conspiracy and extortion,” which caused him to suffer “loss of his reputation, career, family, shame, mortification and injury to his person (both financially and emotionally).”

The lawsuit asks for more than $100,000, meaning it will have to be heard in superior rather than district court. It’s been assigned to Judge Greg Heath.

Also in court records are a handful of open civil cases with Kohring listed as plaintiff or defendant.

A still-open 2009 case shows Mat-Su Regional Medical Center is suing Kohring for debt. That case is before Superior Court Judge Eric Smith, which likely indicates more than $100,000 is at stake. A company called Cach LLC is also suing Kohring for debt, according to a 2010 case. That one is being heard in district court.

Court offices were closed Friday for Veterans Day and more details of the lawsuits were not available as of press time.

Kohring reached the end of his federal case Oct. 21 when he entered a guilty plea to one count of extortion and received a term of 18 months probation. Judge Ralph Beistline did not add any jail time to the year Kohring had already served.

Kohring was one of a number of lawmakers, lobbyists and businessmen caught up in a federal probe of corruption in Alaska.

Kohring’s case became infamous for grainy video from Allen’s suite at a Juneau hotel that showed Kohring accepting cash from the CEO while discussing what he could do for Allen in the Legislature.

Kohring was convicted at trial and sent to prison. But he was freed and his conviction overturned after it emerged that prosecutors had withheld evidence in the trial of the late U.S. Sen. Ted Stevens.

Prosecutors eventually dropped the case against Stevens, but not against Kohring, which led to last month’s guilty plea.

Allen is serving prison time for his role in all of this. He eventually sold his company, VECO, to CH2MHill. Kohring’s defamation lawsuit names the old company as well as the new one in addition to Allen.

Contact Andrew Wellner at andrew.wellner@frontiersman.com or 352-2270.