KTUU.com | Alaska's news and information source | Corrections company says lobbyist acted on his own

Corrections company says lobbyist acted on his own

by Jill Burke
Tuesday, July 10, 2007

ANCHORAGE, Alaska -- Cornell Cos., whose lobbyist became the federal government's chief witness in the corruption case against former Anchorage Rep. Tom Anderson, wants it known it had nothing to with the bribery scheme.

The Texas-based corrections company runs five halfway houses across the state. It hired lobbyist Frank Prewitt to help advance its interest in those and other areas, including developing a privately run prison in Alaska and a juvenile treatment facility in Anchorage.    

Cornell says while Prewitt may have told now-convicted co-conspirators Bill Bobrick and Anderson that the bribe money he had to offer was coming from Cornell, in reality, the company says they had no knowledge of what was going on.        

The company also claims it had no idea Prewitt was an FBI informant.

However, Prewitt did admit under oath that he had been implicated but not yet charged in an illegal contribution scheme involving a Cornell Cos. executive in 2003.     

Prewitt testified he helped funnel $3,000 from that executive to an Alaska politician that same year.

The FBI has acknowledged the money Prewitt used in the bribe scheme involving Anderson came from them and not Cornell.

Cornell Cos. Consultant Charles Seigel said the company does not support bribery.

"Cornell would never have authorized any kind of inappropriate activity, like greasing the wheels, corruption, bribery, side view anything like that," Seigel said. 

In a written press release, the Department of Justice said Cornell was never told about the operation because of the investigation's undercover nature.

Cornell has not been implicated in the scheme.

Contact Jill Burke at jburke@ktuu.com