Alaska Republican senator guilty in corruption trial

A US court on Monday found Ted Stevens of Alaska, a Republican senator of 40 years, guilty of corruption one week before he is up for reelection in the narrowly-divided US Senate.

Stevens, 84, was convicted on all seven counts of making false statements on mandatory financial disclosure forms he filed between 1999 and 2006, a court source told AFP.

Stevens has served in the US Senate since December 1968 and is considered one of the most powerful Republicans in the body with seats on the Appropriations, Defense, and other committees. He temporarily relinquished his committee vice chairmanships.

The senator was found guilty of accepting gifts from a company known as VECO, an Alaska-based firm which provides oil field support, between 1999 and 2006.

Two VECO executives pleaded guilty last year to bribing government officials, including an unnamed state senator.

In recent opinion polls Stevens, the longest-serving Republican in the US Senate, trailed his Democratic challenger Mark Begich by less than one percentage point in an election he had been expected to easily win.

The corruption trial began on September 22 and saw 24 government witnesses and 28 defense witnesses testify in court. Stevens testified in his own defense.

A sentencing hearing was set for February 26, the source said.