Convicts collect pensions
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Convicts collect pensions
March 15, 2004

Convicts collect pensions

   Jail term doesn't stop employee benefits
   
By Jessica Gardner
Times Herald-Record
jgardner@th-record.com
   
   Former Middletown school Superintendent Robert Sigler was busted last year for molesting a male student. He's still serving a 1ª- to five-year sentence.
   He gets to keep his pension of more than $21,000 a year.
   Warren Wagner, a former Middletown police detective, ripped off $20,000 worth of evidence money and served a year in a federal prison in 2002.
   He'll still get a pension shortly after his 55th birthday.
   They're not the only ones. New York is among the majority of states that leave pensions of public employees who commit serious offenses intact, whether the offense is related or unrelated to their jobs.
   That's good news for people like Ed Pilus, the former state police investigator sent to prison for faking fingerprints in at least two cases in Orange and Rockland counties. Pilus was released after serving almost two years in jail. They took his freedom, but they can't touch his pension.
   "It's unusual to me that someone can commit a crime while in public service and still be eligible for a pension," said William Darwak, the Ulster County administrator. "You'd think public employees would be held to a higher standard."
   Not in New York. The state's constitution doesn't allow pension benefits to be "diminished or impaired" for current public employees. Teachers and administrators are covered under a different system, the New York State Teachers' Retirement System, but the same rules apply.
   "There are no provisions in the statutes that would allow us to deny benefits to members," John Cardillo, the records access officer for the NYSTRS.
   That puts Seth Chase in the clear. Chase, a former teacher for the Golden Hill Elementary School, violated state Education Law by pinching and touching sixth-graders. He was fired in 1993 and has received more than $21,000 a year since; that's more than $231,000 in the past 11 years.
   Pensions are made up of a combination of employee contributions and tax dollars paid through the public employers, according to Dan Weiller, spokesman for the state Comptroller's Office. Investments also make up a chunk of the funds paid out in pensions.
   A person's pension amount, in most cases, is calculated from the salary of the last three years of employment as state employee.
   Pension forfeiture laws differ from state to state. Pennsylvania, for example, passed an act in 1978 that penalizes state employees who commit specific crimes through their office.
   The act requires not only the forfeiture of all pension and retirement benefits, except member contributions, but also any benefits for the member's beneficiaries and designated survivors. It even requires that the member contributions be used to pay fines and restitution associated with the conviction.
   The act applies to about 20 crimes ranging from extortion and theft to forgery and tampering with evidence.
   Oklahoma requires the forfeiture of pension benefits if "you are convicted of a felony or other crime which violates your oath of office."
   There aren't any states that make provisions for a law breaker whose offense doesn't pertain to his or her position. Same goes for those whose crimes are acknowledged but never prosecuted.
   That means Gary Pengel, a former Middletown police officer who admitted to molesting a little girl, still gets his $23,109 pension each year – all while serving a four- to 12-year prison term in the Collins Correctional Facility.
   Then there's former Monticello police Chief Michael Brennan and his pal, Sgt. Michael Bunce. These guys retired to avoid prosecution for running a side business of serving legal papers while on duty. They're both getting their annual pensions, $35,190 and $30,315 respectively.
   Pension experts argue pensions are "earned" benefits, meaning they shouldn't be rolled in as part of any sort of punishment.
   Changes to the state law that grants pensions to those convicted of crimes, most often involving official misconduct, have been proposed in the past, only to fall flat. But some New York city and state lawmakers are hoping to breath life into the issue again. In the past, Governor George Pataki voiced support for the idea, as did several other officials.
   Assemblywoman Nancy Calhoun said she'd consider a change to the law that hands out pensions to convicted criminals, but voiced reservations about the consequences of such a law.
   "You're taking away the security of the families as well," Calhoun said. "It would have to be looked at very carefully."
   Edward Farrell, the executive director of the New York State Conference of Mayors, said, "Conceptually, it's something we would likely support, but we'd have to look at how it would apply."
   
   Crime on the job
   Robert Sigler
   Former Middletown School District superintendent
   Crime: sodomized a male teenage student with whom he had a long-standing relationship
   Status: serving a 1ª- to five-year prison sentence at Oneida Correctional Facility in Rome, N.Y.; eligible for parole in September
   Pension: likely to exceed $21,000 annually on retirement
   
   Edward Pilus
   Former New York State police investigator
   Crime: convicted in Rockland County of faking a fingerprint and perjury; pleaded guilty in Orange County to faking a fingerprint
   Status: released from Fishkill Correctional Facility in 1997 after serving almost two years
   Pension: eligible for retirement benefits in October, a month after his 55th birthday
   
   Patricia Weed
   Former Port Jervis Common Council member and DMV employee
   Crime: skimmed car sales tax money from the Port Jervis office of the Department of Motor Vehicles while working there
   Status: admitted to tampering with public records in 1988 (retired from DMV; resigned from council); completed five years of probation and served six weekends at the Orange County Jail (later commuted to her home in Port Jervis)
   Pension: $9,952.68 annually
   
   Warren Wagner
   Former Middletown police detective
   Crime: took $20,000 in evidence money from the police department
   Status: completed sentence of more than a year in federal prison in 2002
   Pension: eligible for retirement benefits a month after his 55th birthday
   
   John Thompson
   Former Orange County undersheriff, current sergeant
   Accused of: orchestrating a plot to get Bigger on the Independence Party line by using forged petitions (could face prison time if convicted)
   Status: charges pending in Orange County Court
   Pension: if he completes one more year of service, he'll receive a full retirement allowance an estimated $29,000 annually, one half of his current $58,000 salary
   
   
   No criminal charges (on the job misconduct)
   Michael Bunce
   Former Monticello police sergeant
   Offense: ran a side businesses serving legal papers for private lawyers, while on duty using public equipment
   Status: retired Nov. 1, 2002 to avoid criminal prosecution
   Pension: $30,315.14 annually
   
   Michael Brennan
   Former Monticello police chief
   Offense: ran a side businesses serving legal papers for private lawyers, while on duty using public equipment
   Status: retired Nov. 1, 2002 to avoid criminal prosecution
   Pension: $35,190.02 annually
   
   Seth Chase
   Former Golden Hill Elementary School teacher
   Offense: violated state education law by pinching and touching several 6th grade boys
   Status: suspended with pay in 1992; fired in 1993
   Pension: $21,433.08 annually
   
   James Coscette
   Former Town of Wallkill police chief
   Offense: Civil Service hearing officer found him guilty of misconduct and incompetence
   Status: Fired December 2001; granted a new Civil Service hearing in January (hopes to get his job back)
   Pension: eligible for retirement benefits a month after his 55th birthday
   
   Crime committed outside of work
   
   Geoffrey Cabrera
   Former New York State police investigator
   Crime: forged access cards that allowed satellite TV users to get channels without paying for them
   Status: Still on probation after pleading guilty in December 2002 to three felonies
   Pension: $37,534.96 annually
   
   Gary Pengel
   Former Middletown police Officer
   Crime: admitted to molesting a girl younger than 14 in 1998
   Status: serving a 4- to 12-year prison sentence at Collins Correctional Facility in Collins, N.Y.; denied parole in 2002; next parole hearing in September (will be a registered sex offender upon release)
   Pension: $23,109.18 annually
   
   Carl Colberg
   Retired New York State police commander
   Crime: Eight years after his retirement from state police, Colberg shot and killed his son, Christopher, 37, who was high on drugs and alcohol when he tried to attack Colberg and his wife
   Status: still on probation after pleading guilty December 1999 to felony criminally negligent homicide
   Pension: $42,943.56 annually
   
   





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