Fraser Verrusio, was policy director to

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., ...

US Rep.

Don Young Donald Edwin Young (June 9, 1933 – March 18, 2022) was an American politician from the state of Alaska. At the time of his death, he was the longest-serving Republican in congressional history, having been the U.S. representative for for ...

(R) and Policy Director for the House Transportation Committee while Rep. Young was chairman. On March 6, 2009, he was indicted for violating federal anti-corruption laws in the long-running

Jack Abramoff scandals The federal investigations into Jack Abramoff and his political and business dealings are among the broadest and most extensive in American political history, involving well over a dozen offices of the FBI and over 100 FBI agents tasked exclusively ...

. He attended Mount Carmel High School from September 1984 to June 1986.

Background

Verrusio was one of the first hires Young made when he took over as chairman of the Transportation Committee in 2001 and was promoted to Policy Director in 2002. He was charged with using his position on the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee to help an equipment rental company secure three amendments in federal highway legislation in exchange for an all-expenses-paid trip to the first game of the 2003 World Series in New York between the Yankees and the Florida Marlins that included a visit to a strip club. The amendments "would have encouraged public works agencies collecting federal highway money to rent rather than own equipment", according to the indictment. Further, the amendment created incentives for agencies to rent from a leasing company. The equipment rental conspiracy alleged in the indictment "resulted in guilty pleas from the two Abramoff associates --

Todd Boulanger Todd Boulanger is an American lobbyist. He was senior vice president of Cassidy & Associates and was a figure in the Jack Abramoff scandal. Background Boulanger graduated from the University of New Hampshire with a degree in political science, ...

and

James Hirni James F. Hirni is a lobbyist who was convicted of bribing U.S. Senate staff aides in exchange for favorable amendments to legislation. A former aide to U.S. Senator Tim Hutchinson (R-AR), he joined the lobbying firm Sonnenschein, Nath & Rosenthal, a ...

—and the Senate aide, Trevor Blackann, who at the time worked for

Missouri Missouri is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it is bordered by eight states (tied for the most with Tennessee ...

Senator

Christopher Bond Christopher Godfrey Bond (born 1945, Sussex, England, UK) is a British actor, playwright and theatre director whose 1970 retelling of the Victorian tale ''Sweeney Todd'' formed the basis of Stephen Sondheim's musical of the same name, with ...

(R), Verrusio was found guilty of accepting bribes and perjury for lying about it. He was sentenced to 1/2 day in jail, 2 years supervised probation and fined $1,000.(2011)

References

Living people United States congressional aides People associated with the Jack Abramoff scandals American politicians convicted of federal public corruption crimes Year of birth missing (living people) Alaska politicians convicted of crimes {{US-gov-bio-stub