6A j The BirminghamNews Sunday, November 28, 2010FROM PAGE ONE
PENSIONS:Part of wageswent to pensionFrom Page 1A
In at least two cases, thefederal government has gar-nished up to a quarter of thepension amounts followingsentences resulting fromprobes into the state’s two-year college system and Jef-
ferson County’s sewer sys-tem. The federal govern-ment also is asking forgarnishment of one otherpension.
Birmingham lawyer BartSlawson said the state Legis-lature or County Commis-sion should attempt to getthe pension obligations can-celed for people who com-mitted crimes for personalgain working for two-yearcolleges or Jefferson County.
Slawson represents a
group that won an environ-mental lawsuit to force Jef-ferson County to fix its leakysewer system. The work re-sulting from lawsuit set-tlement became the centralfocus of the county sewercorruption scandal.
“They don’t deserve them(the pensions) and theyshould be disgorged as un-just enrichment,” he said.
Among the long-standingideals for pensions is thatyou provide your employerwith loyal and valuable serv-ice, “not committing illegalacts to damage your em-ployer, and that’s exactlywhat these guys did,” Slaw-son said.
Don Yancey, RSA’s direc-tor of benefits, said if an em-ployee works at an institu-t i o n a n d m a k e scontributions, they can gettheir pension once theymeet eligibility require-ments.
“A criminal convictiondoes not do anything toeliminate a person’s eligibil-ity for a pension if they’veearned a pension,” Yanceysaid. “It doesn’t matterwhether that offense was re-lated to your job.”
Under the RSA’s teacherretirement plan, employeessuch as those convicted inthe two-year college scandalcontribute 5 percent of theirpay to their pensions. Theamount that the state con-tributes each year varies butis currently equivalent to12.5 percent of the person’ssalary, he said.
U n d e r t h e J e f f e r s o nCounty system, each mem-ber contributes 6 percent ofhis or her compensation,according to the system’sattorney, Beth Beaube. Thecounty matches that contri-bution.
Eight former two-yearcollege employees who wereeither convicted or pleadedguilty in the federal investi-gation get pensions rangingfrom $11,005 to $1,032, orabout $440,000 a year com-bined, from the state retire-ment system.
Johnson gets the most,
$11,005 a month, and willcontinue getting it while inprison. Former state Rep.Sue Schmitz draws thesmallest pension, $1,032 amonth.
Five people who com-mitted crimes in the Jeffer-son County sewer scandalcollect pensions rangingfrom $3,805 to $2,174, for atotal of about $240,000 ayear, from the county’s re-tirement system. Two otherformer county employeeswho pleaded guilty in thesewer scandal — Harry T.Chandler and Donald R. El-lis — will be eligible for pen-sions when they turn 60, ac-cording to county pensionsystem records.
Chandler, Jefferson Coun-ty’s former assistant directorof environmental services,will get $5,140 a month. El-l i s , t h e e n v i r o n m e n t a ldepartment’s former senior
civil engineer, will get $2,526a month.
Two officials covered bythe Jefferson County retire-ment system and convictedin the sewer scandal electedto get a refund of their ownretirement contributionswhen they left the county’semployment, the recordsshow. They will not get acounty pension.
Former Jefferson CountyCommissioner Larry Lang-ford got a refund of $21,076and former employee Ron-ald K. Wilson collected a re-fund of $29,322, accordingto the retirement system.Langford is now serving a15-year prison term on pub-lic corruption charges. Wil-son was sentenced to 13months in prison.
Courts and prosecutorsdo have a way to take part ofthe pensions of people con-victed of crimes.
A court order is requiredto allow the government totake part of a person’s pen-sion to pay toward court-or-dered fines and restitution.The Consumer Credit Pro-tection Act limits the gar-nishment of wages to 25percent of a pension, exceptin certain circumstances in-cluding child support
In one case in the two-year college probe, formerstate Rep. Sue Schmitz hadher retirement credit takenaway for her work with astate program for troubledyouths after her conviction,Yancey said. She had beenconvicted of charges relat-ing to a no-show job withthat program.
Schmitz kept her retire-ment credit for her career asa public school teacher,Yancey said.
Federal prosecutors havegarnished up to 25 percentof the monthly pensions of afew of the convicted officialspension to repay court or-dered fines, or restitution.
Those who have hadwages garnished in the two-year college or sewer scan-dals include:
y Jack Swann, formerhead of the Jefferson Countysewer department, who hadhis $6,928 gross monthlypension garnished at a rateof 25 percent by federalprosecutors.
y Robert Nix, formerdeputy director of the Ala-bama Fire College, has agarnishment of $928 amonth off his $4,394 amonth pension, also about25 percent.
The U.S. Attorney’s Officealso has asked to garnish the$2,198 a month pension offormer Jefferson CountyC o m m i s s i o n e r C h r i sMcNair. The garnishmenthas not been finalized, saidMcNair’s attorney DougJones.
Federal prosecutors havenot sought to garnish thepension of Johnson, whohas been ordered to pay$18.2 million in forfeitureand give up his house inOpelika.
P e g g y S a n f o r d ,spokeswoman for the U.S.Attorneys Office, said it’spremature to comment onwhat steps may be nec-essary to collect forfeiture inthe Johnson case.
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FORMER TWO-YEAR COLLEGE EMPLOYEES Roy Johnson (pleaded guilty) Dec. 2006 $11,000Sue Schmitz (guilty verdict) Mar. 2010 $1,032Melinda Kay Umphrey (pleaded guilty) Dec. 2009 $1,344W.L. Langston Sr. (guilty verdict) July 2006 $6,173Joanne Jordan (pleaded guilty) Jan. 2008 $8,082Robert Nix* (pleaded guilty) Sep. 1996 $4,394Gail Phillips (guilty verdict) June 2007 $2,512Rick Rogers (state charges pending) Sep. 2007 $8,190Karen Van Luvender (state charges pending) June 2010 $5,189Bryant Melton (pleaded guilty) Sep. 2006 $2,255Jimmie Clements (state charges pending) Sep. 1996 $6,972Dana Clements** (state charges pending) Sep. 2017 $2,800
FORMER JEFFERSON COUNTY EMPLOYEES AND COUNTY COMMISSIONERS IN SEWER SCANDALClarence R. Barber (pleaded guilty) Dec. 2004 $3,805Mary M. Buckelew (pleaded guilty) Nov. 2006 $2,174Larry P. Creel (pleaded guilty) Feb. 2005 $3,452Chris McNair (guilty verdict) Mar. 2001 $2,198Gary White*** (guilty verdict) Dec. 2006 $2,336Harry T. Chandler** (pleaded guilty) Jan. 2017 $5,140Donald R. Ellis** (pleaded guilty) May 2020 $2,526Jack Swann* (guilty verdict) July 2006 $6,928
Pensions of former two-year college employees or Jefferson County officials convicted or have charges pending
PUBLIC PENSION AMOUNTS
Name
* Nix and Swann have federal garnishments for restitution. ** Dana Clements, Harry Chandler and Donald R. Ellis eligible to begin drawing at age 60.*** Gary White completed his term as a commissioner on Nov. 3, 2006 and elected deferred retirement. His retirement benefits became payable on Dec. 30, 2006.
Monthly benefit
Retirementdate
Sources: State retirement system, General Retirement System of Jefferson County, and federal court records
Monthly benefit
Retirementdate
