As much as Mainers were outraged that Paul Violette stole hundreds of thousands of dollars from the Maine Turnpike Authority, they were even more galled that he got to keep his state pension.
Earlier this month, Mr. Violette, who oversaw the turnpike authority for 23 years, pleaded guilty to taking tens of thousands of dollars from his employer. He bought gift cards to expensive hotels and restaurants and then used them himself. Because of the amount of money he took, some of the charges were felonies. He is likely to spend several years in jail.
During that time and after, he will continue to receive his pension, which totals $5,000 a month.
Under the plea agreement, which has yet to be approved by a judge, Mr. Violette has agreed to repay the state $155,000.
Maine is one of 11 states that does not have a public pension forfeiture law. Sen. Roger Katz, R-Augusta, and Rep. Les Fossel, R-Alna, reasonably want to change that and have submitted bills to do that.
Sen. Katz wants to look at what other states are doing and then craft an appropriate Maine law. Rep. Fossel has submitted legislation that would allow judges to require that state employees who are convicted of felony crimes forfeit their pensions, minus their contributions. They could also be required to pay restitution.
“Violation of the public trust is a serious offense,” said Rep. Fossel in a statement announcing his bill Thursday.
Any future law changes would not apply to Mr. Violette.
Carefully tailoring a forfeiture law is important because employee pensions represent a commitment between the state and the worker. However, if that worker violates the public trust to such an extent that he is convicted of a felony crime, rescinding the state’s contribution seems warranted.
Most states have provisions that allow government employee pension benefits to be revoked if the recipient is convicted of a crime, according to the National Association of State Retirement Administrators. In some instances, the employee gets to keep the portion of the pension that he contributed.
Many are narrowly tailored to apply only when the employee has committed a felony related to his work duties. This makes sense.
Others only require forfeiture in embezzlement cases.
Others, such as Colorado and Indiana, have provisions to allow pension benefits to be used to reimburse the state for money that was taken from it. Massachusetts law requires disability benefits to be suspended if a public employee is jailed as the result of a felony conviction.
Sen. Katz and Rep. Fossel are right to want to review the differing state laws and model Maine legislation after the best.
A public pension forfeiture law is long overdue. Why has Maine taken so long to identify the need for this provision?
Take his pension away while hes in prison .. Now is he married if so should his wife lose her pension too ??
35 years of Democratic party control
Well I can not see taking the money that they put in Same way as taking money people may have when they get busted with drugs. but the money us tax payer put in should be taken away.
This state never ceases to amaze and nauseate me. Unfreakingbelievable.
Why would the Dems have passed a law that would have impacted one of their own during their 35 year reign? Maine government is infested with former Dem legislators like Violette and McCormick that treat government as their personal fiefdom. It was the good old boys club.
Yes, and our pillar of virtue, Speaker of the House Robert Nutting walks away from his
little Medicare fraud with the 400K he sold his store for and we all love him. What a
joke. But then again he’s a Republican and above the law.
The Dems in charge didn’t seem to think Nutting did anything criminal as they settled with him. Not so for Violette. We’ll see about McCormick, but I hear she has gift card problems too.
Can you provide the information as to what crime Nutting was convicted of?
I never said he was convicted of anything. In fact I pointed out that the Dems in charge of Maine at the time negotiated a settlement with him in the Mainecare billing case. If they thought he had done anything criminal they should have prosecuted him. They did not.
My question was pointed to arepublic and not to you.
You are right. As disgusting as that is, they should have dealt with it then instead of giving a fellow politician a pass.
Can’t be convicted if the people who should be convicting you are your good ol’ boys network. Drop the partisan act for a second…seriously…do you think LePage and crew wouldn’t be prosecuting Nutting if he were a Democrat? Really? When people become so blinded to partisan foolishness that they champion a thief just because he is a member of their party, then we are in DEEP trouble.
Been going on for years, you are not very closely connected to state or federal politics are you ?
It happened when democrats were in control and they did not prosecute him. It has nothing to do with the LePage administration.
It’s like having the wolf guard the hen house. I bet the new law, if it is drawn up and passed, will be a slap on the hand. Poor Mr. Violette, he got caught and now he gets 3 hots and a cot everyday.When he gets out, he’ll have a pension, free health care, cost of living increases, and maybe more benefits. Mr. Mills said and agreement was reached and was a fair settlement. Maybe for Mr. Violette! What happened to the $300,000 Violette received last year for vacation/sick leave? It was stated that no one could really determine if he was really on vacation, so they just gave it to him. Do you know how stupid that sounds!!!!!!My God, We really have the good old boys club in Augusta…………Mr. Mills, When are you going on vacation?
If you think that’s limited to Democrats, you need to wake up. Establishment Republikanz are no different from establishment Demokratz. Look how they robbed Ron Paul of his win here in the Maine caucuses.
Stealing his Pension because he Stole from the State
Two wrongs dont make a right!
If he did his time in Jail and paid back what he stole thats enough!
His pension is not at risk because there is no law at present that governs pension forfeiture.
If the law were in place I would not characterize his fofeiture of pension as “stealing his pension” any more than I would suggest that an employee’s income has been “stolen” if he is terminated for cause. Violating the law has consequences; nobody has said those consequences should be happy ones.
He paid back half of what he stole. He’ll have a $150K of ill gotten loot when he gets out. Only in government would that be considered punishment,
It could be up to the court about the pension what they want to do ? That’s what Mr. fossel told me
With 30 years in power the Democrates have a lot of errors in how things are.
If some one is stealing from their work, they should not be allowed to collect a pension. If some one makes a mistake outside of work, I don’t believe they should lose their pension, granted most felonies are pretty bad, its easier and easier for people to get felonies these days. It’s kind of an awkward situation.
no an awkward situation is having someone walkin in on you when your on the hopper. Committing a crime is a serious situation and felonies are not something that happen on accident. Even a common one like criminal speeding… you know when your doing 35mph over the speed limit. Assaulting someone and putting someone in the hospital is a felony… but again you keep your cool and don’t sock someone in the teeth unless you have absolutely no other choice.
Its not like lawmakers sit around dreaming up ways to catch people in a felony trap.
Sure, but as the IT age develops further and unique situations create legislation, what I find is that a lot of felons are denied housing, jobs, and other opportunities that they may not have had to worry about in the past. Many states virtually strip felons of their rights, and when they try to better themselves and their families they are at a real disadvantage. I’m not saying people shouldn’t be punished for their crimes, but I think we should have a better mechanism to allow felons to gain their rights back and to prove they are contributors to society. Giving illegal aliens their rights should really be secondary to this discussion as well I think.
Well I have limited sympathy for felons. They don’t want to have a shitty life don’t do shitty stuff.
So speeders should forfiet their cars?
What on earth are you talking about? How does speeding and felony theft compare?
At least the privelidge to drive !
actually habitual offenders will be required to surrendered their license at some point.
Although sarcastic and an apples to oranges comparison your analogy is somewhat truthful. He is an embezzler and the means to his crime was his position within the turnpike authority. A speeders means to crime is their car/license. A driver’s license is a privilege not a right. Just like his job is a privilege and the pension is a benefit of that job. He lost his job which is like a habitual speeder losing their privilege to drive.
He habitually stole from the state which you and I pay for in taxes. He should now not only be forced to pay ALL of the funds he stole back but forfeit the benefits he would otherwise reap from said job.
Misguided analogies especially those defending a dipstick like this guy should be kept to yourself.
I’m more than a little upset that the man got $300,000 in vacation and sick pay. I have not used any sick days in my life but I don’t have an extra $300,000 in the till to pay myself for staying healthy – guess I better work for the State of Maine. Does anyone see any problems at all with how Maine pays its employees? Totally unrealistic yet when we try to have that discussion, the unions and democrats start their lying campaigns and the issue dies and pigs like this screw the State out of millions and get rewarded for it. Just great democrats, keep handing it out.
Hey, they made him pay back half of it. Apparently he gets to keep the other half. Only in government “service” would this be considered fair.
State employees seem to forget that they work in service to the people of the state. That’s why it’s called public service. Why should any employee earn more than his employer ? I feel the same about our politicians in Washington. They work for us yet won’t settle for the same benefits they expect us to accept. Anyone see a problem here ?
Yeah, I see a problem there. If you don’t like to settle for less that is your problem. If you don’t think you are worth the same benefits then again, that is your problem.
I will back you in any fight with your employer for better pay or better benefits but I won’t support your jealousy because you covet your neighbors gains.
Not at ll my friend , in fact I worked for the government for several years ( civil servant ) and witnessed quit a lot of wasted dollars. It was way before the whistle blowers act otherwise I would have reported most of it. By the way do you happen to have a pen or a pencil from the office. Unless you own the business you are guilty also !
Don’t get me wrong for a minute there , there are some great and honest state workers who earn way less than they are worth !
All part of the Liberal plan to provide equality
He was not a Union member and no Union member can accumulate that kind of time off. Learn your facts before you rant. That kind of perk is reserved only for the appointed or the anointed.
This is government, forget whether it is democrat, republican, independent, socialist, communist, it is the system that is allowing corruption to occur.
Uh, no. The “system” is nothing but ideas, words, concepts… It takes a person to be corrupt.
The people that enforce those ideas, words and concepts are part of the system also !
If your in Jail, Social security is taken away for that time. Pensions should be taken away also. If your a public figure than you own society to abide by the laws above the normal citizen. When you have access to rape the taxpayers than you need to have major punishment. Prison, loss of assets that most likely the public paid for and were never accounted for, and PRISON time not home confinement. The pension is acquired through work, you stole from work thus loss of the pension is justified. THE TAXPAYERS WANT AND NEED HONEST AND BRIGHT PEOPLE IN THESE POSITIONS, PERIOD. IS THAT TO MUCH TO EXPECT?
So a banker who intentionally deceives millions of investors and indirectly bilks millions of homeowners of their life savings keeps their pension and the state worker who is convicted of a felony that may have no definitive victim must live in poverty. I am not supporting state workers in the commission of crimes. I am concerned about the disparity in justice that is codified in law by this type of legislation. If there was a comparable penalty for fiduciaries I would have no issue at all with the law. This country has been imperiled by legions of criminal bankers who have placed their own gains above the health and well-being of an entire nation. The response should be to make sure that the penalty fits the crime, as the laws have been weakened over the years. Instead, we are placing the highest importance on these relatively small crimes. We need financial crimes to be punished by actions like this proposal. Then and only then will be able to say crime does not pay, even for wealthy bankers.
Awful..But,hey,dont forget to turn in your NEIGHBOR,who might be getting 13 bux a month too much in food stamps,k’?
A perfect example of lack of justice and what is wrong with the entire country! I guess justice will only be served when the people start taking the law into there own hands and dealing with scum like this first hand! Our judicial system, State and Federal Government only protect each other and to hell with the people!!!
We formed a Government to work for the people many years ago, somewhere along the line it got switched and now we work for our Government, just check your property and payroll taxes if you think this is not true !
5000 a month? even though its crazy he gets to keep it… how many others get that kind of pension money?! Who pays for that?! taxpayers… holy cow. Lets cut these pension programs down in addition to reforming the mainecare system… who knows we might be able to start reducing the state deficit.
So you are saying let’s take pensions away from people that earned them, even those who have already retired? Easy for the right to say that just getting a pension is a crime so that is all they need to justify taking it back.
I am not following ceegen logic. So let me explain, the system allows corruption to occur because the accountability factor it not enforced. So when you over draft your bank account, you are perhaps ‘corrupt’ by your definition but the bank will charge you for the overdraft and impact your credit rating and the ability to secure low interst loans etc so there is a consequence. In this story above, there is no consequence other than paying the money back that was ‘borrowed’.
I say pay them. You didn’t mind them
stealing from you when you were getting
your freebies so why care now?