Dennis Zaki Blog - AlaskaReport

And so the Vic Kohring saga ends

I went out to the side of the road near the Eklutna exit along the Glenn Highway early this morning to see Vic Kohring off in a bizzare fashion. Kohring spent three hours waving goodbye to Alaskans from alongside the highway that he used to campaign from. As Vic waved to the morning commuters on a cool and blustery day, a lot of people honked, quite a few gave him the one finger salute, and one taunted him for over an hour via bullhorn with “Go to jail!” and “F*** you Vic!”

After surrendering himself to federal marshals around 10 am, Vic is now a federal prisoner locked up in a dingy cell in Anchorage. He’s now awaiting a trip down south for three and half long years at Taft prison in California.

Kohring was convicted in November of bribery, conspiracy and attempted extortion for his involvement with Bill Allen, the former owner of an oil services company that bribed several Alaska lawmakers including Senator Ted Stevens and his son. Kohring will have to serve at least three years of his sentence with good behaviour before he could be considered for early release.

Vic has delusions that he’ll be exonerated by an appeals court. No chance on that. They got him, it’s over. “I’m feeling confident,” Kohring claimed, “My legal prospects are very good.” No he wasn’t, and no they are not.

Vic was talking confident, but you could hear the doubt in his voice. I’ve interviewed Vic around 6 times in the past year, this was the first time he seemed beaten. I think he finally gets it.

Tidbit: Vic’s “Thanks Alaska” sign was made with an old campaign sign from Lyda Green. Oh, how the mighty have fallen!

Convicted “Corrupt Bastard Club” member Vic Kohring sent this statement Friday afternoon in an email to AlaskaReport. “Kohring plans to say “goodbye” to his friends, supporters and former constituents by doing his trademark highway sign waving along the Glenn Highway early Monday morning”

California Dreamin’

From AlaskaReport:

“Life is not good for me right now.”

Convicted Republican Vic Kohring will serve his 42-month federal prison sentence in California instead of Oregon as was recommended at sentencing earlier this month.

KTUU’s Bill McAllister rips convicted criminal Victor Kohring in his latest blog post.

Kohring says reporters are “bloodthirsty jackals” who “savaged me throughout my years in the Legislature.”

“They obviously picked up the pace when my office was raided by five armed FBI agents in 2006 and did their best to try and convict me before my trial even began, regardless of the truth.”

Well, now. Talking about venomous attitudes, Kohring issued a news release in 2002 in which he described state government employees uniformly — not by job classification, by agency or by any other sub-set, but uniformly — as “parasites Josef Stalin would be proud of.”

…As Kohring plays out his final act — with food stamps, a public defender and perhaps other government hand-outs — it’s all about him, and none of it is his fault.

Kohring’s lawyer said “He’s Andy Griffith, he really is.”

Prosecutor Joseph Bottini replied “I don’t remember any episode of that show where Andy Griffith took cash from anybody.”

Video shot by Kelly Walters for AlaskaReport.com

Copyright Dennis Zaki - AlaskaReport.com of course

Sorry about the delay but the Wi-Fi wasn’t working in the courthouse. Here’s a couple of quick hits.

Kohring had to hitchhike to court today. A friend loaned him a beater and it died near his home. Vic put out his thumb and a local Wasillian gave him a lift. Classic!

Quick quotes. Vic’s lawyer said “He’s Andy Griffith, he really is”

Prosecutor Joseph Bottini replied “I don’t remember any episode of that show where Andy Griffith took cash from anybody.”

Vic Kohring “I was a little naive, I’ll admit that.”

I forgot to ask Vic about his hair.

My plan is to get some pictures of Vic (and a couple of quick quotes) entering the courthouse before his sentencing around 9:30 am. Hopefully some video too if I can convince one of my colleagues to assist me. Then I’ll find the Wi-Fi hotspot at the courthouse and post a picture up on AlaskaReport and a few here. Then I’ll sit through two, or four, miserable hours of Lord John Henry Browne (Vic’s fluffy attorney) second-guessing every minute detail of Judge Sedwick’s rulings.

If I’m still awake after that I’ll shoot some pictures of Vic when he leaves the courthouse. That may not happen though. The judge could remand Vic and order him straight to prison.

I hope not. I want Vic’s reaction to his sentence. He’s been telling me for months that he can’t talk because his lawyer has told him to “not talk about the case”

He can finally say what he’s been thinking all along.

My guess, “Mmm… donuts”.

Lord Browne’s motion to keep Vic out of jail while he waits for his appeals to be heard.

Pictured - Harry Potter’s ‘Defense Against the Dark Arts’ teacher - Gilderoy Lockhart - Lord Browne’s echo

Vic Kohring, with less than 24 hours before he’s sentenced to federal prison, wants to be freed pending appeal. Kohring’s lawyer, Lord John Henry Browne, is asking the judge to allow Vic to stay out of prison during the appeals process.

David Shurleff at APRN says it could keep him out of prison for the next few years, if not longer.

No surprise there. The surprise is - where the hell is he getting money for appeals?

Lord Browne’s motion