Another example of Don Young taking official action that benefited some of his campaign donors is the passage of legislation that revised truck-hauling rules.The Anchorage Daily News reported that the FBI and U.S. Attorney’s Office opened an investigationinto a deal involving payments to Rep. Young and other Congressmen by indicted Wisconsin businessman Dennis Troha.

Troha is under indictment and being investigated regarding additional crimes. Young has retained a Washington, D.C., law firm to represent him in connection with the Troha investigation.

Troha’s family members and others associated with him were among Young’s top campaign contributors in his 2006 re-election. Young received $25,000 from Troha and his associates, with most of those dollars coming on May 23, 2005, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported.

In 2005, Young sponsored legislation revising truck-hauling rules to the benefited of Troha. It was reported that Young might return some $20,000 in campaign contributions linked to Troha.

An amendment sponsored by Young allowed 97-foot multi-truck combinations on the highways; it was included in a highway spending bill that became law in August 2005, at the time Young chaired the House Transportation Committee. The change to truck hauling regulations was scheduled to go into effect in the spring of 2007.

Young claimed he did not know Troha or that he would benefit from new rules Young favored allowing longer “saddlemount” truck combinations.

The amendment Young sponsored permitted drivers moving trucks from manufacturers’ factories to haul four semitrailer truck cabs at once instead of three, and increased the maximum length that could be hauled in one load to 97 feet. Before that, states were allowed to impose 75-foot maximum lengths. Many truckers opposed the change, saying so-called ‘four-ways’ can be hard to handle, making them unsafe for drivers and other motorists. The legislation was a financial boon to Jht Holdings, a trucking conglomerate whose subsidiaries have a near-monopoly on this business. Jht paid Troha’s consulting firm more than $107,000 a month after the law took effect, and had a deal to pay him through 2010 because Congress passed the legislation helping Jht, the Journal Sentinel reported.

Troha was indicted in 2007 on charges in a separate case that he circumvented campaign contribution limits by funneling donations through his children, and then lied about it to investigators. Troha pleaded not guilty.

One columnist called Troha Wisconsin’s ultimate wheeler-dealer.

Young’s office had no comment.