WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Jury selection begins Monday in the trial of U.S. Sen. Ted Stevens, who is charged with filing false Senate ethics reports.
Sen. Ted Stevens, R-Alaska, gets into a car after his July arraignment in Washington.
The 84-year-old Republican from Alaska is expected in the courtroom for the first time since he entered his not guilty plea on July 31.
Stevens, up for re-election in November, has requested that the trial be expedited in hopes he can clear his name before voters head to the polling booths.
He has continued to campaign since his indictment was announced, and he handily won the GOP primary less than a month after he was indicted. Stevens has been in the Senate since 1968 and is the longest-serving Republican in Senate history.
"I've urged Alaskans not to make a judgment about this situation until all the evidence is in," Stevens told reporters in Alaska on Saturday.
Stevens was indicted July 29 on seven counts of filing false reports on his mandatory Senate financial disclosure forms.
He has pleaded not guilty, saying in a statement that he has "never knowingly submitted a false disclosure form required by law as a U.S. senator." He stepped down from his leadership posts on Senate committees after the indictment.
If convicted, Stevens could face five years in prison for each of the counts, although he could get a lighter penalty.
Jury selection begins in Alaska senator's corruption trial - CNN.com
Sen. Ted Stevens, R-Alaska, gets into a car after his July arraignment in Washington.
The 84-year-old Republican from Alaska is expected in the courtroom for the first time since he entered his not guilty plea on July 31.
Stevens, up for re-election in November, has requested that the trial be expedited in hopes he can clear his name before voters head to the polling booths.
He has continued to campaign since his indictment was announced, and he handily won the GOP primary less than a month after he was indicted. Stevens has been in the Senate since 1968 and is the longest-serving Republican in Senate history.
"I've urged Alaskans not to make a judgment about this situation until all the evidence is in," Stevens told reporters in Alaska on Saturday.
Stevens was indicted July 29 on seven counts of filing false reports on his mandatory Senate financial disclosure forms.
He has pleaded not guilty, saying in a statement that he has "never knowingly submitted a false disclosure form required by law as a U.S. senator." He stepped down from his leadership posts on Senate committees after the indictment.
If convicted, Stevens could face five years in prison for each of the counts, although he could get a lighter penalty.
Jury selection begins in Alaska senator's corruption trial - CNN.com
