The Texas Tribune
Numerous former government officials convicted on corruption charges, ranging from a former Texas attorney general to local mayors and district clerks, are still eligible to collect lucrative public pensions, a Texas Tribune investigation has found.
The Tribune identified more than two dozen former elected officials with prior felony convictions who are potentially collecting retirement payouts. They include former Attorney General Dan Morales, former state Rep. Joe Driver and the former sheriff of Hidalgo County, Lupe Treviño. State Rep. Dawnna Dukes, D-Austin, is facing felony abuse-of-office charges and could soon join the list.
But a veil of secrecy over the state and local pension systems in charge of the retirement payments makes it impossible to find out whether individual government employees-turned-convicts are receiving them or how much they receive.
The Tribune investigation drew from news accounts and records obtained from the office of Sen. Van Taylor, R-Plano, who authored Senate Bill 14 – a sweeping ethics bill filed last month – in part to revoke pensions from law-breaking lawmakers. Taylor requested information on politician-convicts from the state's public pension systems and provided the Tribune with a list of names in response to a public information request.
“The thought of a corrupt and criminal politician sitting in a jail cell collecting a government pension is appalling,” Taylor said in an email. “Through a series of inquiries, I uncovered evidence that elected officials convicted of felonies while in office receive taxpayer funded pensions in prison."
Taylor said he couldn't provide details on which convicted former officials received retirement pay or the amount they receive.
The Tribune obtained a list of 45 elected officials who might be qualified to receive pensions despite prior felony convictions. Of those, the Tribune has identified 27 government officials who have fulfilled the minimum requirements to collect retirement pay, despite convictions for crimes ranging from drug trafficking to extortion.
Among the former officials eligible to collect retirement pay either now or when they reach retirement age are:
Former state Rep. Jim Solis, D-Harlingen, who in 2011 pleaded guilty to helping former state District Judge Abel C. Limas with his racketeering scheme; an attorney at the time, Solis admitted to paying Limas $8,000 for more favorable rulings. He served three years in prison, while Limas is still serving a six-year sentence in federal prison. Solis could not be reached for comment.
Driver, the former lawmaker who pleaded guilty in 2011 to abuse-of-office charges for double-billing his campaign and the state for travel expenses. Driver, who is eligible to collect $64,400 a year in retirement based on his 20 years of service, declined to comment on the pension revocation legislation.
Numerous former government officials convicted on corruption charges, ranging from a former Texas attorney general to local mayors and district clerks, are still eligible to collect lucrative public pensions, a Texas Tribune investigation has found.
The Tribune identified more than two dozen former elected officials with prior felony convictions who are potentially collecting retirement payouts. They include former Attorney General Dan Morales, former state Rep. Joe Driver and the former sheriff of Hidalgo County, Lupe Treviño. State Rep. Dawnna Dukes, D-Austin, is facing felony abuse-of-office charges and could soon join the list.
But a veil of secrecy over the state and local pension systems in charge of the retirement payments makes it impossible to find out whether individual government employees-turned-convicts are receiving them or how much they receive.
The Tribune investigation drew from news accounts and records obtained from the office of Sen. Van Taylor, R-Plano, who authored Senate Bill 14 – a sweeping ethics bill filed last month – in part to revoke pensions from law-breaking lawmakers. Taylor requested information on politician-convicts from the state's public pension systems and provided the Tribune with a list of names in response to a public information request.
“The thought of a corrupt and criminal politician sitting in a jail cell collecting a government pension is appalling,” Taylor said in an email. “Through a series of inquiries, I uncovered evidence that elected officials convicted of felonies while in office receive taxpayer funded pensions in prison."
Taylor said he couldn't provide details on which convicted former officials received retirement pay or the amount they receive.
The Tribune obtained a list of 45 elected officials who might be qualified to receive pensions despite prior felony convictions. Of those, the Tribune has identified 27 government officials who have fulfilled the minimum requirements to collect retirement pay, despite convictions for crimes ranging from drug trafficking to extortion.
Among the former officials eligible to collect retirement pay either now or when they reach retirement age are:
Morales, who pleaded guilty in 2003 to altering government records to give lawyer friend Marc Murr more than $500 million from the $17.3 billion settlement that tobacco companies paid the state to alleviate health care costs for damages caused by smoking. After serving eight years as attorney general and six years as a state representative, Morales served three years in federal prison. Morales could not be reached for comment.
Former state Rep. Jim Solis, D-Harlingen, who in 2011 pleaded guilty to helping former state District Judge Abel C. Limas with his racketeering scheme; an attorney at the time, Solis admitted to paying Limas $8,000 for more favorable rulings. He served three years in prison, while Limas is still serving a six-year sentence in federal prison. Solis could not be reached for comment.Driver, the former lawmaker who pleaded guilty in 2011 to abuse-of-office charges for double-billing his campaign and the state for travel expenses. Driver, who is eligible to collect $64,400 a year in retirement based on his 20 years of service, declined to comment on the pension revocation legislation.
Treviño, the former Hidalgo County sheriff, pleaded guilty to money laundering after he admitted to accepting campaign contributions from a convicted drug trafficker. Treviño was sentenced to five years in prison and will not be released until January 2019.
"This adds insult to the public's injury," Taylor said. "Not one dime from hardworking, honest Texas families should fund corrupt politicians who disgraced their office and betrayed the people's trust.”
"This adds insult to the public's injury," Taylor said. "Not one dime from hardworking, honest Texas families should fund corrupt politicians who disgraced their office and betrayed the people's trust.”
To read the rest of the story, click on link: https://www.texastribune.org/2017/02/16/texas-may-still-give-pension-convicted-elected-officials/
2 comments:
Juan that's very nice to hear about all these convicted people who are drawing out money (pensions-retirement whatever) after being caught red handed, que cute. Well guess taxpayers always get the short end of the stick. There should be a law against all of these ratismo that stops it in its tracks.
This is one of the reasons for going into politics....the tax payers pay all the bills and felons get to receive pensions from the tax payers even while they are in jail. This "safety net" is one of the reasons our local state officials don't change the law to protect the tax payers....because they seek to protect their own asses when their corruption is discovered.
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