Bruce Weyhrauch is an attorney in

Juneau The City and Borough of Juneau, more commonly known simply as Juneau ( ; tli, Dzánti K'ihéeni ), is the capital city of the state of Alaska. Located in the Gastineau Channel and the Alaskan panhandle, it is a unified municipality and the se ...

Alaska Alaska ( ; russian: Аляска, Alyaska; ale, Alax̂sxax̂; ; ems, Alas'kaaq; Yup'ik: ''Alaskaq''; tli, Anáaski) is a state located in the Western United States on the northwest extremity of North America. A semi-exclave of the U.S., ...

, United States. He is also a former representative in the Alaska State House representing Juneau's District 4. Weyhrauch has practiced at his own law office in Juneau for nearly three decades. His regulatory and government affairs-focused practice handles a wide variety of matters, including labor relations and natural resources.

Education and career

After receiving his BS in natural resource planning and engineering from

Humboldt State University California State Polytechnic University, Humboldt also known as Cal Poly Humboldt, Humboldt or Cal Poly"Cal Poly" may also refer to California Polytechnic State University in San Luis Obispo, California or California State Polytechnic Universi ...

, Weyhrauch matriculated at the Northwestern School of Law of

Lewis and Clark College Lewis & Clark College is a private liberal arts college in Portland, Oregon. Originally chartered in 1867 as the Albany Collegiate Institute in Albany, Oregon, the college was relocated to Portland in 1938 and in 1942 adopted the name Lewis & Cl ...

, where he served as the editor-in-chief of ''Environmental Law''. His publications during this period include "Operation Exodus: The United States Government’s Program to Intercept Illegal Export of High Technology" (''Computer Law Journal'', 1986). Maintaining an active presence in his community, he has served as an officer or director on the Board of Directors of the Foundation For End of Life Care, Inc.; Chapel-by-the-Lake, Inc.; Rotary International, Juneau Shooting Sports Foundation, Inc.; Juneau Economic Development Council; Big Brothers/Big Sisters Board of Directors; and the AWARE Women's Shelter. Weyhrauch has held positions with the Juneau Port Authority, the Juneau Economic Development Council, and the City and Borough of Juneau Board of Equalization. An Eagle Scout, Weyhrauch has served in numerous capacities and on the

Boy Scouts of America The Boy Scouts of America (BSA, colloquially the Boy Scouts) is one of the largest scouting organizations and one of the largest youth organizations in the United States, with about 1.2 million youth participants. The BSA was founded i ...

's Southeast Alaska Council Executive Board.

Indictment, conviction and Supreme Court case reversal

In May 2007, Weyhrauch, along with fellow Republican state House members

Pete Kott Peter Kott (born 1949) is a former Republican state representative for District 17 serving Eagle River, Alaska, in the Alaska Legislature for seven terms, from 1993 until 2007. He was Speaker of the House during his sixth term in 2003–2004. On ...

and

Vic Kohring Victor H. Kohring (August 2, 1958 – September 6, 2022) was an American politician who was a member of the Alaska House of Representatives. A Republican, he was elected to seven consecutive two-year terms beginning in 1994. Kohring represented W ...

, were charged in connection with a scandal involving oilfield service company

VECO VECO Corporation was an American oil pipeline service and construction company until its purchase in September 2007 by CH2M Hill. As of that date, the VECO Corporation ceased to exist. Founded in 1968 as Veltri Enterprises by Wayne Ray Veltri, ...

attempting to buy government favors in Alaska. The ensuing investigation led to the widely publicized indictment, trial and convictions of United States Senator Ted Stevens in October 2008, and the indictments and convictions of former representatives

Tom Anderson Thomas Anderson (born November 8, 1970) is an American technology entrepreneur and co-founder of the social networking service, social networking website Myspace, which he founded in 2003 with Chris DeWolfe. He was later president of Myspa ...

and

Beverly Masek Beverly L. "Bev" Masek (née Jerue) (born September 30, 1963) is an Alaska Native and an American former dog sled racer, and businesswoman. She was a Republican politician who served in the state legislature for several terms. Early life, educ ...

and state Senator

John Cowdery John Joe Cowdery (February 11, 1930 – July 13, 2013) was a Republican member of the Alaska Senate, representing the O District from 2001 through 2008. He was previously a member of the Alaska House of Representatives from 1982 through 1984, an ...

, as well as VECO chairman Bill Allen and vice president Richard Smith. Alaska businessmen/lobbyists Bill Weimar (former for-profit halfway house owner), Bill Bobrick, and

Jim Clark James Clark Jr. OBE (4 March 1936 – 7 April 1968) was a British Formula One racing driver from Scotland, who won two World Championships, in 1963 and 1965. A versatile driver, he competed in sports cars, touring cars and in the Indianapol ...

, chief of staff for former governor

Frank Murkowski Frank Hughes Murkowski (born March 28, 1933) is an American politician and a member of the Republican Party. He was a United States Senator from Alaska from 1981 until 2002 and the eighth governor of Alaska from 2002 until 2006. In his 2006 re ...

, also were indicted and convicted. Clark's guilty plea and sentence were later vacated before he was ordered to report to custody. Weyrauch had been charged with bribery, extortion, conspiracy and mail fraud. After being found guilty in a trial, on October 15, 2007, he was sentenced to five years in prison. He appealed, and subsequently his proceedings were granted an indefinite stay while issues involved were re-examined by the

U.S. Supreme Court The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that involve a point o ...

. This was followed by Weyhrauch prevailing at the Supreme Court on a challenge to the

honest services fraud Honest services fraud is a crime defined in (the federal mail and wire fraud statute), added by the United States Congress in 1988, which states "For the purposes of this chapter, the term ''scheme or artifice to defraud'' includes a scheme or ...

statute. His case was decided on June 24, 2010, in association with the similar '' Skilling v. United States'' and

Conrad Black Conrad Moffat Black, Baron Black of Crossharbour (born 25 August 1944), is a Canadian-born British former newspaper publisher, businessman, and writer. His father was businessman George Montegu Black II, who had significant holdings in Canadi ...

case decisions. Weyhrauch's federal case was remanded to the 9th Circuit Court of Appeal, and as a result of this re-examination, all federal charges were dismissed. He pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor lobbying violation, was given a suspended sentence and probation, and was fined $1,000. It was estimated he had spent $300,000 on his defense.

Personal

Weyhrauch was stranded on Coghlan Island in the Juneau area on April 22, 2007, after he fell out of his boat at about 6:00 PM that night; he was forced to swim to the island. The

United States Coast Guard The United States Coast Guard (USCG) is the maritime security, search and rescue, and law enforcement service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the country's eight uniformed services. The service is a maritime, military, mult ...

District Seventeen, Sector Juneau, searched for Weyhrauch during the night. A volunteer rescue team from the nonprofit organization SEADOGS found him alive at approximately 11:00 AM on April 23.

References

External links

Bruce Weyhrauch
at 100 Years of Alaska's Legislature {{DEFAULTSORT:Weyhrauch, Bruce 1953 births Alaska lawyers Living people Republican Party members of the Alaska House of Representatives Politicians from Juneau, Alaska Politicians from Lincoln, Nebraska Alaska politicians convicted of crimes 21st-century American politicians