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– LEGAL AFFAIRS
Updated Sept. 26, 2008 – 6:22 p.m.
Tradesmen Testify They Didn’t Bill Senator; Accountant Was Told to Leave ‘No Paper Trail’ on Stevens’ Home Improvements
By Bart Jansen, CQ Staff
An accountant for the company that expanded the Alaska home of Ted Stevens testified Friday that when she questioned an invoice for some of the work, the reply she got back was “No paper trail.”
Accountant Cheryl Boomershine told a U.S. District Court jury that she documented invoices for $188,928.82 in labor and supplies that the Republican senator is charged with failing to report.
Boomershine, who has worked since 1981 at VECO Corp. or its successor CH2M Hill, said she charted numerous invoices, receipts and checks billed to “Girdwood consultants” or “Girdwood consumables.” The expenses occurred from September 2000 to April 2001 – even though the company didn’t have facilities in that city.
Girdwood is where Stevens owns a home that was converted from a single-story A-frame to a two-story residence.
The expensive changes made to that A-frame house, which Stevens referred to as his chalet, are central to the prosecution’s case against the senator, who is charged with failing to report the value of $250,000 in gifts, including converting the one-story house into a much larger two-story residence.
Stevens is charged with failing to report gifts on his Senate financial-disclosure forms, which are required annually to give the public a chance to see when their elected officials might have a personal stake in a public policy decision.
The accountant told of penciling questions on the back of a $2,000 Girdwood receipt and receiving the inked reply: “no paper trail.”
“Invoices would all come to my desk,” Boomershine said. “I would then route them for approval, if they didn’t already have approval.”
Stevens’ lawyer, Robert Cary, made a point with Boomershine that every invoice was authorized or approved by Bill Allen, the former head of VECO.
Prosecutors plan to call Allen to the stand on Monday.
They contend that Stevens arranged for VECO to pay $188,000 in labor and materials for the construction project, and that he failed to pay the true cost of the Girdwood home expansion.
Defense attorneys blame Allen for keeping Stevens in the dark about the company’s involvement. They said Stevens paid more than $160,000 for the addition, which added a new first floor to the house, almost doubling its original size.
Boomershine testified that Stevens had reimbursed VECO at least twice. One expense was $420.28 dated Aug. 8, 2003, and another was for a “charter” flight and another was for $1,710.41 on Oct. 31, 2005, for “travel.”
The work on the Girdwood house was the entire focus of the jury’s attention Friday. Earlier in the day, construction workers described how they improved the Alaska house but either worked for VECO or reported to its staffers.
Four tradesmen testified, only one of whom said he ever saw Stevens.
Stevens once showed up and “He was talking with everyone,” said Mike Luther, a union carpenter who helped build the walls that supported the original A-frame house after it was raised up to become two stories. He added that Stevens’ wife, Catherine, once brought muffins for the workers, which they appreciated.
Doug Alke, an electrician, described installing a larger generator for the home in Girdwood. He said he worked 20 to 24 hours on the project at $19.50 per hour, which he billed as overhead to his company, VECO. Alke still works for the company that bought VECO in 2007, CH2M Hill.
Roy Dettmer testified that he was an electrician for VECO in October 2000 when he was assigned to wire the expanded house. He said he worked 10-hour days, six days a week, for at least $27 per hour plus overtime.
Dan McBirney, a carpenter who used to work for VECO, said he installed a green metal roof over a flight of external stairs and over the generator. He also helped fit a metal railing for the stairs, as he spent two or three days on the project at $25 per hour.
Luther, the carpenter, said he spent from September 2000 to March 2001 on the project. He wrote a “punch list” of work that needed to be completed at the house on VECO stationery on Feb. 23, 2001.
Luther said he worked for a different company, but was supervised by a VECO employee named Rocky Williams.
“If I had any questions, I would refer them to Rocky Williams,” Luther said.
Coming Up
Testimony has gone more briskly than anticipated, leading to a scheduling crunch because prosecutors want Allen to be the first witness on Monday but defense lawyers are awaiting medical records that may help them challenge Allen’s credibility.
U.S. District Court Judge Emmet G. Sullivan voiced reluctance to divide Allen’s testimony from the cross-examination, but postponed any decision on the medical records that have been requested from three hospitals.
Arguments in the trial began Thursday. Government lawyers said they expect to finish their case by Oct. 3 or Oct. 6.
First posted Sept. 26, 2008 1:41 p.m.
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