Star witness takes stand in Stevens trial

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The man who bankrolled most of the "free benefits" that Alaska Sen. Ted Stevens is accused of trying to hide took the stand at his trial Tuesday.

Bill Allen, an Alaska oil industry kingpin, is the state's star witness against the senator.

Stevens, the Senate's longest-serving Republican, has pleaded not guilty to a seven-count indictment of filing false statements on mandatory financial disclosure forms.

Prosecutors say the annual forms should have included hundreds of thousands of dollars in gifts from Allen, who founded Veco Corp., an oilfield contractor and Alaska's biggest employer.

The firm was not known for residential construction, but a series of former workers has testified that Allen and top aides directly asked them to work on the Stevens family chalet in the ski town of Girdwood outside Anchorage.

However, Stevens' defense attorneys won an important victory Tuesday when prosecutors said they would not refer by name to a bribery target Allen has admitted trying to pay. It is Senator Stevens son Ben, an Alaska state lawmaker. In a deal Allen made in an earlier probe, two legislators are referred to only as "State lawmaker A," and "State lawmaker B." Prosecutors in the Stevens trial will acknowledge Allen is cooperating with them as part of the probe of the elder Stevens.

As part of their case against Stevens, however, government lawyers also plan to play several wiretap audio recordings. They hope the recordings will convince the jury that Stevens knowingly concealed what they call "free benefits," which included a "sweetheart deal" on a Land Rover, substantial renovations to his home in Alaska and other unreported goods and services.

Efforts by Allen to keep the project low-key have come up at the trial. One was on a handwritten invoice for building materials that said "no paper trail," in directions attributed to Allen. Another worker testified that Allen told him to use "discretion" regarding work at Stevens' home.

In testimony Tuesday, former Stevens spokeswoman Courtney Boone acknowledged that she was asked about the issue by reporters but said, "I would have only given a reporter the essential information. Veco wouldn't have been essential, and Veco could have stirred up more questions. This would have been a story I wanted to put a stop to."

Prosecutors estimated that they will need more than five hours to question Allen, meaning he will return Wednesday for more direct questioning. Prosecutor Nicholas Marsh told Sullivan that the state may rest its case Thursday.

The defense team has told the jury that Stevens "promptly" paid all the bills he knew about and that it was Allen who concealed additional costs. During witness cross-examination, Stevens' lawyers have tried to undercut the reliability of documents that the prosecution hopes will show both the cost and Stevens' lack of repayment.

Prosecutors are scrambling to recover from several scoldings by Sullivan over their treatment of a subpoenaed witness, Robert "Rocky" Williams, a top lieutenant to Allen who has not been called to testify.

Williams, the on-site foreman at the Stevens home as major construction took place starting in the late 1990s, spent hours with prosecutors in Washington last week preparing to take the stand, only to be told by them he could return home without testifying for the government, supposedly because of health problems. He remains under subpoena and the defense plans to call him as their witness next week.

The judge questioned why neither he nor the defense team was told about his departure from Washington, and he has now directed prosecutors to explain whether he should impose unspecified sanctions in the matter.

Allen has also caused headaches during what is supposed to be an expedited trial, requested by Stevens.

The 84-year-old senator wants to clear his name by November as part of his bid for re-election. But Allen has medical problems from a motorcycle wreck in 2001, and a planned appearance Monday was delayed after the judge granted the defense additional time to review hospital records to assess his ability to testify.

All About Ted Stevens • Alaska