Matt Miller, KTOO – Juneau
A former Juneau lawmaker will be sentenced Tuesday night on a single charge of knowingly helping or participating with unregistered lobbyists engaged in lobbying activities.
Bruce Weyhrauch was told by District Court Judge Keith Levy that he could spend as much as a year in jail or pay a $1,000 fine.
Besides ‘yes’ or ‘no’ answers to routine questions, Weyhrauch said nothing else. He rushed out of the courtroom with his wife to sign paperwork in the clerk’s office and then left the courthouse through another exit.
His attorneys Doug Pope and Ray Brown declined to comment until after tomorrow’s sentencing.
Weyhrauch’s plea will be in exchange for federal prosecutors dropping their case against him. He was initially charged four years ago with conspiracy, attempted extortion, bribery, and honest services wire fraud. That case was due to go to trial in May. Last year, the U.S. Supreme Court narrowed the definition of honest services fraud so that it only applied to people in positions of public trust who take or offer bribes and kickbacks. It no longer applies to a non-disclosure of a conflict of interest.
Weyhrauch represented District 4, or northern Juneau, in the state House for four years starting in 2003.
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