Former state Sen. Vince Fumo wants to end his supervised release

CONVICTED FORMER state Sen. Vince Fumo is seeking an early end to his three-year term of supervised release under the watchful eyes of the U.S. Probation Office.

In a motion filed yesterday, Fumo's lawyer, Dennis Cogan, asked U.S. District Judge Ronald Buckwalter to terminate Fumo's three-year supervised release after more than 13 months.

"His punishments have been considerable and he has suffered much," Cogan wrote. "He is now almost 72 years of age. His health is not good and his financial losses have been considerable."

Fumo was convicted by a federal jury in March 2009 of 137 corruption counts.

Buckwalter had originally sentenced him to 55 months in prison and restitution of $2.3 million to the state Senate, Citizens Alliance and the Independence Seaport Museum. The feds appealed.

Fumo was ultimately sentenced to a prison term of 61 months, three years of supervised release and nearly $4 million in fines, restitution and special assessments, which he has paid in full, Cogan wrote.

Fumo served about four years in prison before being released to home confinement in August 2013 at his Spring Garden mansion on Green Street near 22nd. He received nearly eight months of credit for good behavior.

His home confinement ended early February 2014. His term of supervised release then started.

Under supervised release, Fumo has restrictions on his travel and was also required by Buckwalter to serve 500 hours of community service.

Cogan wrote that since the conviction, "Fumo has had a number of serious financial and medical setbacks," including losing his state pension. Since 2004, when Fumo first became aware of the investigation into his affairs, "he has paid millions of dollars in counsel fees to several different law firms," Cogan added.

And while in prison, Fumo "underwent extensive heart-bypass surgery." After getting out, Fumo was diagnosed with prostate cancer.

"While undergoing regimens of therapy for his cancer, Fumo nonetheless performed 285 hours of outstanding community service with Sister Mary Scullion's Project Home, a much acclaimed outreach program that provides critical services on behalf of homeless people," Cogan wrote.

Cogan noted that Buckwalter has the discretion to end Fumo's supervised release after one year of supervised release.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Robert Zauzmer said yesterday that his office will respond to Cogan's motion "in the next few days."