Dave Anderson, a former oil welder who helped remodel Stevens' house in 2000, wrote a letter to U.S. District Judge Emmett Sullivan on Nov. 15, recanting testimony he gave on whether the government ever promised his friends and family immunity in the Feds' ongoing political corruption investigation in Alaska

Anderson, who lives in Willow, reveals in his letter that he was worried for his life because his uncle, former oilman Bill Allen, allegedly threatened to kill him. To protect his family, both from Allen and any criminal charges, he testified against Stevens, expecting immunity for his loved ones in return, he told AlaskaDispatch.com in an interview Friday.

"I've lived in fear," Anderson said. "I know what Bill and his people are capable of."

At issue is a March 25, 2008, affidavit signed by Anderson in which he claims FBI agents had guaranteed him that they would offer full immunity to his mother, his girlfriend Kirsten Deacon, and members of her family, including Deacon's father, former Alaska state Sen. Jerry Ward, who has been associated with the Alaska corruption scandal but not charged with any crimes.

But federal prosecutors claim Anderson has it wrong. In a court filing Friday, prosecutors said, "Anderson told the government that he knew the affidavit contained inaccurate information" and that he "realized the government had agreed not to make Anderson provide direct testimony against his family members, but that Anderson knew that there had been no agreement relative to immunity or promises of immunity by the government as to anyone."

Prosecutors are gearing up to disprove Anderson's claims, saying they have evidence that he knew he never was promised immunity in return for testifying against Stevens, once one of the most powerful senators in the country.

Anderson oversaw much of the remodeling of Stevens's home. The Feds called him to testify about his role in the project, which the government argued was largely paid for by his Uncle Allen, the former owner of VECO Corp., once the largest Alaska-based oil-contracting firm. A jury found Stevens, 85, guilty of failing to report on his Senate disclosure forms more than $250,000 in home renovations and other gifts he received from Allen and friends.

Allen pleaded guilty last year to bribing state lawmakers and is cooperating with the government. (Meantime, Allen remains under investigation by Anchorage Police for allegedly sexually abusing one or more teenage girls eight years ago, charges he has denied through his lawyer.)

Before Stevens' trial this fall, Anderson said, prosecutors told him to testify that the affidavit was incorrect and that he was never told by the government that his family or Ward's would be promised immunity in the federal investigation.

"I understood that if I testified that this [affidavit] was not an accurate document, we would all be able to continue with life," Anderson said in his Nov. 15 letter to Sullivan. "Before I took the witness stand that day, I had the understanding that the agreement would be honored, or I would have never testified; I would have pleaded the fifth."

Anderson's accusations come three days after Stevens lost his Senate re-election bid to Anchorage Mayor Mark Begich, largely due to his federal conviction. Stevens, who bid farewell to his fellow senators yesterday after serving in the body for 40 years, has appealed his conviction, claiming federal prosecutors cut corners during the trial, including withholding evidence.

Anderson's accusations raise new questions about the Justice Department's investigation and alleged promises it has made to witnesses. Anderson also claims that in the weeks leading up to the Stevens trial, federal prosecutors left him in a room with confidential documents related to the case that he was not supposed to read.