Editor's note: The following commentary was first featured in Make-A-Scene, a monthly community publication serving readers in the Matanuska-Susitna Valley. It is the first installment in a series in which Mr. Kohring intends to tell his own side of the federal Alaska public corruption probe.

I was a state representative from 1995 through 2007 serving Wasilla and parts of the Mat-Su Valley and Chugiak in the Alaska Legislature. My life was turned upside down on August 31, 2006, when six armed FBI agents converged on my small legislative office in downtown Wasilla. The government has been bullying me ever since. They turned my life into a living nightmare these last five years, first by charging me with bribery, conspiracy and extortion and then threatening me with over 50 years in prison, primarily involving Easter eggs for my step-daughter and a summer internship for my teenage nephew. I was forced to resign my legislative seat held for seven terms. Then I was railroaded with a sham trial presided over by a judge whose wife's $110,000-a-year job was eliminated by my House Bill 40, legislation previously sponsored in Juneau. Furthermore, the judge failed to disclose that he lived next door to the government's "star" witness, Veco CEO Bill Allen, whose witness stand testimony -- a corroboration with the government as part of a sweetheart deal cut with the Feds -- was used to falsely convict me. The result was my being sent off to jail, where I was ragged around in five different prison facilities over a year's time, until being released at the request of US Attorney General Eric Holder after it was discovered the prosecution concealed over 6,000 pages of evidence during the trial, containing critical material that would have cleared my name. Recently, after over another year of legal haggling, I pled out to one charge to avoid another federal onslaught.

What did I really do? First off, I never should have accepted Allen's gifts because of the perception of wrong doing. Even though my intent was not to change my position on oil tax legislation for Allen--nor did I ever vote the way he wanted--by accepting his gifts, he says it led him to believe I was willing to do so. My actions were careless and I exhibited lapses in judgment for which I apologize. But I am human and capable of making mistakes, which I'm owning up to. I have paid the price dearly, losing five years of my life, being rendered financially destitute and locked up in prison.

My plea bargain recognizes the practical difficulties I would have had at my re-trial in Fairbanks this month, attempting to convince a reasonable jury that I honestly thought Allen's gifts were from a friend with no strings attached. The last few weeks leading up to the trial, I was cornered by the prosecution and forced to cut my losses. To continue was simply not worth further subjecting my family or myself to the government's methods, nor was it worth the risk of losing at the re-trial and potentially being taken away from loved ones for years. I therefore made the gut-wrenching decision to plead out. It was one of the most difficult decisions of my life as I was looking forward to the trial as a way to finally exonerate myself.

My whole case boiled down to a small amount of gift money -- a "pittance" as the judge put it during the recent sentencing hearing. For less than a thousand dollars, the Department of "Justice" felt it justified to tag team with the FBI and spend millions pursuing me. Attorneys familiar with the case estimated the government blew through $7-10 million these last five years. Plus, my defense cost upwards of $1.25 million. All over a pittance. The government based their case on the thousand referred to in the plea agreement which had nothing to do with the so-called "money shot" showing Allen handing me a hundred dollars. This "Easter egg photo" was not a part of the plea agreement. And for good reason as Allen's gift was not illegal. My plea instead centered on the acceptance of Allen's gift of "about" a thousand dollars as stated in the agreement.