Bev Masek, who portrayed herself in court as a struggling and depressed alcoholic easily manipulated by a money-laden oilman, never spent time behind bars, according to the Federal Bureau of Prisons. Instead, she served out her six-month bribery sentence in a halfway house.

Online records for the Bureau of Prisons showed Masek was assigned to a community corrections facility in Washington state in the days prior to her May 7 release. She's not totally in the clear, though, as her sentence also comes with three years of probation.

Masek, who grew up in the village of Anvik, avoided trial by pleading guilty to taking $4,000 from oil executive Bill Allen during her time as a state lawmaker. Allen is the same man who at one point directed Masek to kill legislation he thought would harm the oil industry and his oil contracting company, VECO Corp.

Kott's still fighting

Meantime, a former Alaska politician netted in the same federal corruption probe who took his case to trial and lost has another shot at overturning the guilty verdicts.

Pete Kott, who was released early from prison pending a review of the fairness of his case, was denied a re-trial by the federal judge who presided over his trial in 2007. Kott maintains that as with the botched case against former U.S. Sen. Ted Stevens, federal prosecutors withheld evidence.

But it's not over yet for Kott. He's got another chance to seek relief. Earlier this month, a federal appeals court agreed to hear his case. Kott has until early July to file an opening brief.

Contact Jill Burke at jill(at)alaskadispatch.com.