Sen. Ted Stevens Dead In Alaska Plane Crash

Dave Dittman, a former aide and close family friend of former Sen. Ted Stevens, confirms to local Alaksa station KTUU that Stevens was killed in a plane crash in his home state on Monday night.

A small plane carrying at least eight people, possibly including former Sen. Ted Stevens, crashed last night near Dillingham, Alaska. Sources feared former Sen. Ted Stevens was on board the flight.

Sen. Ted Stevens, a Republican, lost a 2008 re-election bid, just days after being convicted of lying on Senate financial disclosure forms about expensive gifts he received from an Alaska businessman. That conviction was later thrown out, however, when a federal judge ruled that Stevens had been the victim of prosecutorial misconduct. Stevens, 86, served in the Senate for more than 40 years.