Fumo directed to forfeit $100K annual pension

HARRISBURG - Former State Sen. Vincent J. Fumo, who is preparing to serve 55 months in federal prison, just got some more bad news: His lucrative legislative pension is history.

Officials with the State Employees' Retirement System this week notified Fumo that his $100,500 annual pension was forfeited as a result of his July 14 sentencing on public corruption charges, according to information provided to The Inquirer through the state's Right to Know law.

Fumo began collecting $8,371 monthly checks upon his December retirement from the Senate after 30 years. The pension is based on those years of service plus seven that he served as a Harrisburg bureaucrat in Gov. Milton Shapp's administration.

The 66-year-old Philadelphia Democrat might still get a retirement check from the state; however, it is unclear how big it would be.

Under state pension rules, he is entitled to the amount he paid into the system over the years through payroll deductions, but not accumulated interest.

That works out to $115,750, records show. Then, the pension system will deduct a yet-to-be-determined portion of the $58,750 in payments Fumo has collected since December, said Robert Gentzel, a spokesman for SERS.

So Fumo - once among the state's most powerful politicians - likely will end up with a lump sum retirement check of no more than five figures for four decades of public service, if he gets that much.

The final figure could be reduced by those seeking restitution from the former lawmaker, Gentzel said.

A jury in March found Fumo guilty on 137 counts of conspiracy, fraud, tax offenses, and obstruction of justice for defrauding the Senate and two nonprofits out of more than $4 million for personal and political gain. A judge sentenced him to federal prison for four years and seven months - a term he is to begin serving at the end of this month.

He also was ordered to pay more than $2 million in fines and restitution.

Under a 1978 state law, former legislators forfeit their pensions upon conviction for certain crimes that relate to their official duties.

Fumo was elected to office in April 1978, three months before the pension forfeiture statute was passed.

He was one of only eight senators to vote against the measure 31 years ago. In floor debate, he argued it was "blatantly unconstitutional."

"I was under the assumption that this is a nation of laws and not of men," Fumo told his colleagues, according to legislative journals from the debate.