The state wrongly concluded that Sandusky was a Penn State employee when he committed the crimes that were the basis for the pension forfeiture. Sandusky’s pension is worth just under five grand a month.
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A panel of judges on the Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court retroactively reinstated the pension with interest to the date the SERS board canceled payments.
“Mr. Sandusky’s performance of services that benefited PSU does not render him a PSU employee”, President Judge Dan Pellegrini wrote in the court’s decision.
After Sandusky’s arrest, Eckel was outspoken about the damage the ex-coach’s actions did to Penn State, but Eckel is not criticizing the ruling that restores Sandusky’s pension.
Following Sandusky’s hearing, a hearing officer recommended that Sandusky’s pension be reinstated, interpreting that the provisions of the Pension Forfeiture Act were not applicable to him, and that he did not satisfy the definition of a school employee at the time he committed the crimes.
There’s no word on whether the state retirement system will appeal to the supreme court.
Sandusky was convicted on 45 charges of sexual assault against at least 10 different victims and was sentenced to at least 30 years in prison. Hearing Officer Michael Bangs’ decision was overturned by the full retirement board, however, and it was that ruling which the Sanduskys appealed to Commonwealth Court. Sandusky has served three years of a minimum thirty year prison sentence.
Sandusky retired in 1999.
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Essentially, the court affirmed the loophole in Sandusky’s terms of employment with Penn State. Then 68-years-old, Sandusky had already collected a $148,000 lump sum payment upon retirement in 1999 and had been receiving monthly pension payments of $4,900. Prior to 2004, when an amended law was passed, Pennsylvanians could only lose their state pensions if they were convicted of financial crimes. Sandusky is now appealing his molestation conviction. As football coach at a state university, he was a state employee.
