Ted Stevens "Get out of Jail Free" card may not extend to other Republican criminals in Alaska.

The Justice Department has apparently decided to not dismiss charges against convicted legislators Pete Kott and Vic Kohring as it did for U.S. Sen. Ted Stevens earlier this year, and may fight efforts by the men to get new trials.

Stevens was found guilty by a jury of failing to disclose tens of thousands of dollars of gifts from an oil-field contractor and others. But the Justice Department dismissed his charges in April when the trial judge in Washington, D.C., accused prosecutors of misconduct.

Such a ruling has not been made in the cases of Kott and Kohring, convicted in Anchorage in 2007 of taking bribes from the same oil-field contractor, former Veco chief executive Bill Allen, who by then was helping the FBI. In June, with their cases before the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, the Justice Department asked Sedwick to release Kott and Kohring from prison pending a determination of whether the government's failure to fully disclose information about Allen and others had tainted the trials.

Just when Alaskans had finally become convinced that justice had come to the last frontier, Ted Stevens conviction was thrown out.

If Kott and Kohring follow suit, many of us are worried that corruption cases will not be pursued as vigorously as in the past. I mean how satisfying is it to build a case that gets a corrupt politician convicted only to see him walking down the street, a free man, only months later?

And personally that really irritates the snot out of me because one of the biggest crooks in Alaska remains free to this day.

Who am I speaking of? Well Ted's son, Ben Stevens of course. A man who VECO purchased for a measly $243,250. Of course he was paid a little more by Bering Sea Crab Effort Reduction Fund and Adak Fisheries. The only reason I can imagine that the prosecutors have not already had Ben arrested and started his corruption trial is that they fear his case will get thrown out just like his father's. After all they seized evidence against Ben three whole years ago.

So in the name of Alaska justice I certainly hope that both Kott and Kohring end up behind bars very soon so that the Feds be will fired up to go after the rest of the corrupt bastards in this state. And of course who better to start with than Little Lord Fauntleroy himself, Ben Stevens?