Fumo aide sentenced to house arrest

A year of home confinement and five years' probation was the sentence handed down yesterday to a longtime friend of former State Sen. Vincent J. Fumo who admitted accepting a state contract that paid him $287,000 for little, if any, work.

S. Michael Palermo, 69, was on the legislative payroll between 1999 and 2004. During that time, he ran personal errands for the senator and helped manage his Harrisburg-area farm.

Palermo apologized to the court yesterday for taking the job.

The sentence was negotiated last year and was accepted yesterday by U.S. District Judge Stewart Dalzell. Fumo (D., Phila.) was convicted in March of 137 counts of conspiracy, fraud, and related charges, and was sentenced to 55 months in federal prison.

Palermo, a former police officer, had worked on and off for Fumo since the 1970s, including as chief of staff of Fumo's Philadelphia office. He also served as associate executive director of the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission until 1999.

Under his Senate contract, Palermo was supposed to provide "fiscal and operational analysis of intrastate transportation issues," but that work was done by three other full-time Senate staffers.

One of those staffers, when shown a photo of Palermo, did not recall ever meeting him.

That staffer "resigned from Fumo's office in disgust when he came to appreciate the extent of the wrongdoing occurring around him," according to a sentencing memo filed by Assistant U.S. Attorneys John J. Pease and Robert A. Zauzmer, who prosecuted the Fumo case and handled Palermo's sentencing.

In court documents, they said "Palermo . . . provided little or no services to the Senate at all. In particular, there is no written record of any work he ever did under the contract."

Palermo had contended that he sometimes discussed highway projects with the senator and occasionally discussed road projects with another member of Fumo's staff.

But, Palermo admitted, "those conversations totaled no more than 10 hours over five years."

Palermo, who has heart ailments, has paid $50,000 in restitution to the state and will pay a $25,000 fine. Other restitution has been paid by Fumo.

Palermo can leave his home to work, consult with his attorney, attend religious services, and perform community service. Also, he can leave for four hours a week to attend to "personal" chores. He will be monitored with an ankle transmitter.