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Pocono News Section
I-Team: Possible Pension Loss for Judges
I-Team: Possible Pension Loss for Judges - Wednesday, February 4, 2009 at 9:30PM EST
Through a Pennsylvania "right to know" request, the I-Team discovered how much pension money Luzerne County Judges Mark Ciavarella and Michael Conahan could lose.
Starting first with Ciavarella, the I-Team estimates he would collect approximately $75,000 a year in pension funds. That's if he retired with his current years of service as a judge.
WILKES-BARRE, LUZERNE COUNTY- Local taxpayer advocate Walter Griffith says Ciavarella and Conahan shouldn't get a dime. They've taken the juvenile system of our county and they've smeared it so badly and they've ruined the lives of young people that I just don't think it's fair that they should be able to walk away with everything," says Griffith.
Next is Conahan, who officially retired as a judge on January 14th, 2008. The next day he returned as a senior judge, appointed part-time by the state.
But when he retired, Conahan withdrew a lump sum of a little more than $300,000 in pension payout. And that money could be safe for Conahan.
The State Employees Retirement System says forfeited pension money is usually taken from the point of conviction and beyond.
Conahan did nothing illegal by withdrawing the lump sum, but Griffith says it seemed odd. "There's a lot of different things that are happening in the county that aren't in the best interest of the taxpayers. That particular issue is a little bit difficult because it just seems funny that he would take his retirement," says Griffith.
If convicted, Conahan and Ciavarella could both lose retirement benefits. The state employee s retirement system follows state law guidelines to take away pensions.
There's a specific guideline that takes retirement benefits away if a judge is disbarred because of a federal conviction. | | |
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