Ex-Roslyn school officials collect pensions in prison

The following piece appeared at Newsday.com

Ex-Roslyn school officials collect pensions in prison

BY EDEN LAIKIN AND SANDRA PEDDIE | eden.laikin@newsday.com
sandra.peddie@newsday.com
May 5, 2008

Frank Tassone earns $1.05 a day working as a porter at the Mid-State Correctional Facility in upstate Oneida. Cleaning toilets and shower stalls, he is far from his comfortable days as the superintendent of the Roslyn school district, where he enjoyed lavish meals on the taxpayers, gambling junkets and frequent conferences in such playgrounds as Las Vegas.

But Tassone, 61, needn't worry about having enough spending money for the prison commissary. In spite of his conviction for stealing $2.2 million from the school district, which put him behind bars for 4 to 12 years, Tassone can count on his annual New York State pension of $173,495 arriving at regular intervals in his bank account. He gets that in monthly installments of $14,457.92.

And, New York State law being what it is, he'll continue to get that public pension for the rest of his life.

"It is unconscionable that a guy like Frank Tassone can collect a six-figure income while he's in jail for stealing from his employer," said E.J. McMahon, a pension expert from the Empire Center for New York State Policy, a pro-business think tank in Albany.

State records show that Tassone is one of the top 20 pension earners among school administrators in the state. And as a felon collecting a generous state pension, he is not alone.

Four of a kind

Pamela Gluckin, the Roslyn schools' former business official who admitted to stealing $4.3 million from the district, continues to get her $54,998 annual pension while she serves a 3-to-9-year prison sentence at Albion Correctional Facility near the Canadian border. As part of Gluckin's plea agreement, she sends half of that amount directly to Roslyn toward her restitution.

Even though former William Floyd school district treasurer James A. Wright pleaded guilty to stealing approximately $777,000 from the district, he still collects an annual pension of $142,807. Former state Comptroller Alan Hevesi, who pleaded guilty to a felony for misusing state personnel by having them drive his wife around and perform other family chores, keeps his annual pension of $104,123.

Like Tassone, all of them will receive these funds for the rest of their lives.

Pension guaranteed

These felons benefit from a New York State constitutional guarantee that says if a public employee is entitled to a state pension for his or her years of service, those retirement benefits cannot be diminished or taken away, even after a felony conviction. Unlike several other states, New York has no statute providing for the forfeiture of pension benefits if someone is convicted of a crime.

Several attempts by Republican lawmakers to change that to allow forfeiture of pensions for public officials convicted of crimes have for years gone nowhere in the State Legislature in Albany as employee unions have fought against them, experts say.

"I don't think, when you violate the public's trust while you're in public office, that you should be rewarded with a very generous pension system, primarily provided by the taxpayers of New York State, the very people you violated," said State Assemb. Daniel Burling (R, C, I-Warsaw), the sponsor of one of three pending pension reform bills.

"It's absolutely scandalous," said Pete Sepp, spokesman for the National Taxpayers Union in Alexandria, Va. "It's a crime committed twice on the people of New York. The public trust has been broken; now the public purse has been broken, too."

Unlike federal Social Security checks, pension checks can be deposited directly into an inmate's prison account so that the inmate can pay restitution, court fees or child support, state corrections officials say. They can also use the money for biweekly purchases in the prison commissary, where they buy items such as socks, soap and reading material.

In addition to Tassone and Gluckin, three other district employees or vendors were jailed for their involvement in the $11- million Roslyn scandal that spanned a decade and included stolen funds spent on home mortgages, furnishings, vacations, jewelry and artwork.

Districts still paying

Tassone made full restitution -- $2,213,257 -- to the school district by March 2007, just 18 months after he pleaded guilty. State officials wouldn't say where Tassone's pension check is sent.

Meanwhile, Roslyn school district officials said they will pay about $7,037 this year for Tassone's health insurance benefits, which he also will collect for the rest of his life. Tassone's portion is about $710 a year.

"To think that Frank Tassone and Pam Gluckin continue to receive their pensions and in a few years will have paid their debt to society and will then enjoy the benefit of hundreds of thousands of dollars a year paid by the taxpayers of Roslyn and the state of New York for the rest of their lives makes me sick," said Bill Costigan, former Roslyn school board president.

Tassone is eligible for parole in 2010. If he behaves in jail, and continues his participation in anger management training, he can shave eight months and four days from the minimum time he has to serve, moving up his parole date.

Gluckin, 62, also earns $1.05 a day working as a clerk in the chaplain services department of the all-women's prison. She still owes more than $2 million in restitution, records show. District officials say they receive a check for $2,050 every month from Gluckin, who has paid back $1,914,994. At that rate, it will take Gluckin an estimated 100 years to pay back the money she stole.

If she successfully completes her prison program, which includes daily therapy sessions, she can shorten her sentence by six months and three days. She's eligible for parole in September 2009.

The school district will have paid about $6,646 this year toward Gluckin's health benefits. Her portion is $38.49 a month, or $461.88 for 2008.

District officials said that neither Tassone nor Gluckin has missed a payment.

"Their positions gave them the ability to steal millions of dollars from the taxpayers and then they get rewarded with a pension for the rest of their lives?" asked state Assemb. Thomas McKevitt (R-East Meadow). "I think that in the private sector nothing like that will ever occur."

Neither Tassone nor Gluckin could be reached for comment.

Gluckin's attorney did not return calls. Tassone's attorney, Edward Jenks, when asked about Tassone's pension said simply, "It's automatic."

Quote of the Day: “Some punishment seems preparing for a people who are ungratefully abusing the best constitution and the best King any nation was ever blessed with, intent on nothing but luxury, licentiousness, power, places, pensions, and plunder; while the ministry, divided in their counsels, with little regard for each other, worried by perpetual oppositions, in continual apprehension of changes, intent on securing popularity in case they should lose favor, have for some years past had little time or inclination to attend to our small affairs, whose remoteness makes them appear even smaller.”
Benjamin Franklin