A federal jury has convicted Republican Senator Ted Stevens of Alaska on all seven counts of violating federal ethics laws for failing to report tens of thousands of dollars in gifts and services he had received from an oil company executive. Stevens is the longest-serving Republican senator in US history and is the former chair of the Appropriations Committee. He was accused of receiving payments and gifts from the now-defunct oil services company VECO. Stevens, who is up for re-election next week, says he will fight the conviction. The seven felonies each carry a penalty of five years in prison. Alaskan governor and Republican vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin said, “This is a sad day for Alaska and a sad day for Senator Stevens and for his family.” Palin has ties to Stevens going back to at least 2003, when she became a director of the 527 group “Ted Stevens Excellence in Public Service.”