Bill Allen

William James Allen (April 6, 1937 – June 29, 2022) was an American businessman who was the CEO of the Alaska oilfield services company VECO Corporation. VECO was an Alaska-based oil pipeline service and construction company founded by Wayne Veltri (VECO is short for Veltri Co). Bill Allen was born in Socorro, New Mexico, and at the age of 16 left for the oil fields of Alaska to become a welder to help support his family. VECO began as a one-truck welding and repair operation that grew to become a major player in the Alaskan and worldwide oil industries' support services business. He built a for-profit prison in Barbados as well. VECO also was a worldwide player in the oil industry, having divisions in many major oil markets, including Sudan, Russia, Mexico, Venezuela, and Syria. a crime he had been protected from prior after lying under oath during Ted Stevens's corruption trial, costing the Senator re-election in 2008.

Exxon Valdez oil spill On March 24, 1989, the oil tanker Exxon Valdez ran aground on Bligh Reef, spilling eleven million gallons of crude oil into the waters of Prince William Sound. The Exxon Valdez oil spill was the second-largest in United States history, after the BP Gulf of Mexico Deepwater Horizon oil spill.

Under Allen's guidance, VECO (along with its unionized subsidiary, NORCON) was responsible for large parts of the spill's cleanup, hiring 2,500 workers to clean up the environmental disaster.

Following the spill and cleanup, Allen purchased the Anchorage Times from editor/publisher Robert Atwood. Allen operated the newspaper until shutting it down and selling many of its assets to its rival, the Anchorage Daily News, in 1992. Through an agreement described as "unique," Allen paid for space in the editorial section of the ADN for many years afterward to provide a half-page feature known as The Voice of the Times.

Alaska political investigation On May 7, 2007, Allen, along with VECO's Vice President for Community & Government Affairs Rick Smith, pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in Anchorage in the Alaska political corruption probe to charges of extortion, bribery, and conspiracy to impede the Internal Revenue Service. The charges involved bribing Alaska lawmakers to vote in favor of an oil tax law favored by the VECO that was the subject of vigorous debate during the regular and two special sessions of the Alaska Legislature in 2006. Bill Allen's testimony, at the trial of his former friend, Alaska Senator Ted Stevens, helped secure Stevens' conviction, in U.S. District Court on charges of felonious corruption. Bill Allen pleaded guilty and could have faced 9–10 years. He was released from a halfway house in New Mexico on November 22, 2011.

Later, it emerged that Allen might have perjured himself at trial, seemingly due to federal prosecutors promising he could avoid prosecution for paying for underage girls to travel across state lines for sex if he lied about Stevens under oath.

Sale of VECO Corporation In September 2007 VECO Corporation was sold to Colorado-based CH2M HILL corporation. Due to the cloud hanging over its head from the political investigation, it is estimated that VECO was forced to sell for far less than its market value. New Mexico veterinarian Leonard Blach and Mark co-owned Mine that Bird, ridden by Calvin Borel, which won the 2009 Kentucky Derby. Going off at 50-1 odds, it was the longest ever odds on a winner of that race. Mark then entered the horse in the second leg of the Triple Crown, the Preakness Stakes. The new owners of Rachel Alexandra, a filly that won the Kentucky Oaks with Borel aboard, intended to enter her in the Preakness as well, with Borel again committed to riding her. Mark attempted to collude with another owner to enter two additional horses, in order to exclude Rachel Alexandra from running by filling the field and to allow him to have Borel ride Mine that Bird again. After the scheme was exposed, Mark declined to enter his second horse. He issued a press release, stating "Additionally, my decision to enter Indy Express in the Preakness was strictly business but after consulting with my Dad (sic) and Doc Blach, I have decided to withdraw Indy Express to prevent any further miss (sic) understandings. They're (sic) advice to me was just to do what's right, because arrogance and greed aren't right." Rachel Alexandra, with Borel riding her, won the 2009 Preakness Stakes with Mine that Bird ridden by Mike Smith, finishing second, a length behind.

Allen died on June 29, 2022, at the age of 85; at the time of his death he lived in Grand Junction, Colorado.