Pa. officials restore six-figure pension for former senator convicted of corruption
HARRISBURG —
Years after Robert Mellow went to federal prison for corruption, the longtime Democratic leader of the state Senate will get his $245,000 annual pension back, a state board has narrowly decided.
It's the only time in at least 11 years that the board of the State Employees' Retirement System has returned someone's pension after it was taken away for a criminal conviction. Former State Sen. Mellow had appealed the initial decision.
The former lawmaker from the Scranton area prevailed in a 6-5 vote, with some members arguing that it would set a bad precedent.
In question was whether Mellow's federal conviction for conspiracy to commit mail fraud and to defraud the U.S. closely enough resembled any of a number of state crimes that require state employees to automatically forfeit their pensions.
State law requires employees to forfeit their pensions if they are convicted of or plead guilty to certain state crimes or federal crimes that are "substantially the same as" state crimes.
Read more at:
http://www.post-gazette.com/news/politics-state/2017/12/05/Convicted-state-senator-wins-pension-appeal/stories/201712050212
= new reply since forum marked as read
