Alaska Sen. Ted Stevens reiterated his innocence claim, with a non-guilty plea issued Thursday to charges that he lied about accepting over a quarter of a million dollars worth of gifts. In addition to the non-guilty plea, Stevens went as far as to ask the court to schedule his trial prior to the November Senate race.
When U.S. District Judge Emmet G. Sullivan asked for Stevens's plea, his attorney Brenda Sullivan answered for him.
Prosecutors have charged that the Senator accepted more than $250,000 in home improvements and gifts from contractors, none of which was disclosed on Senate financial records, so say prosecutors.
Along with a speedy trial date, the Stevens legal team requested that the trial be moved to Alaska, where the senator has been a political patron since before statehood. Sullivan was the attorney who asked for an earlier trial date so that the senator could have his day in court before the November 4 election. Prosecutors said they would not take issue with a trial date in late September.
Depending on other cases currently being handled by Judge Sullivan, the district judge said the trial could begin as soon as September 24.
On August 19 the court will adjourn to discuss the issue of relocating the trial to the senator's home state. This hearing will take place a week before Alaska's Republican senatorial primary.
