Former CEO Tells of Gifts to Stevens

The key prosecution witness in the trial of Sen. Ted Stevens began testifying yesterday about the extent of gifts and home renovations the lawmaker is accused of hiding on financial disclosure forms.

The highly anticipated testimony came from Bill Allen, a friend of Stevens's and the former chief executive of Veco, an oil services company. Stevens (R-Alaska) is charged with accepting more than $250,000 in gifts and free renovations to his Alaska home that he did not report on Senate disclosure statements. Prosecutors say Allen and Veco provided many of the gifts and funded a huge chunk of the renovations.

Allen, a self-made millionaire, testified for 1 1/2 hours, tracing his life story and how he first met Stevens in the early 1980s. They soon became good friends and often fished together, he said. They also attended annual "boot camps," where they walked, drank wine, smoked cigars and tried to shed a few pounds, Allen testified. They made such trips to California and Arizona, he said.

"We really liked each other," Allen testified. "Ted loved Alaska, and I loved Alaska. We liked to go fishing."

The gifts started in 1999, Allen testified. He said he had Veco workers install a generator at Stevens's home in 1999 after the senator asked him for one in case the power went out because of the millennium computer bug. Allen said the generator cost about $6,000.

That year, the senator also asked him to make a car swap. Allen testified that he gave Stevens a new $44,000 Land Rover in exchange for a rare "1964 1/2 " Mustang worth at most $20,000. Stevens also gave Allen a $5,000 check, the former executive testified.

The Land Rover was intended for Stevens's daughter Lilly.

Allen said he made the unprofitable swap "because I liked Ted."

Allen is expected to continue his testimony this morning and to explain renovations performed or overseen by Veco workers at Stevens's house from 2000 through 2002.

Allen spoke haltingly and often had trouble finding the right words -- the result of a head injury he suffered in a motorcycle crash in 2001. Allen had been expected to testify earlier in the trial, which started last week, but defense attorneys were successful in delaying his appearance until they could obtain medical records connected to the accident.

Allen was a key figure in a large investigation into public corruption in Alaska politics. He has pleaded guilty to federal bribery charges and testified at two trials in Alaska that resulted in the conviction of two state legislators. Prosecutors have said they plan to play audiotapes, recorded secretly by the FBI, of Allen and Stevens talking.

Stevens's attorneys have asserted that the senator paid $160,000 in renovation costs and felt that was a fair market price. They have said that Stevens's wife handled most of the bills and have blamed Allen for hiding other expenses. One of the lawyers, Brendan Sullivan, has accused Allen of "deviousness."