A state agency that oversees public employee retirement benefits has stripped the pension of a former Lower Southampton district judge awaiting sentencing in an ongoing federal corruption probe.
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| John Waltman |
Earlier this month, the Pennsylvania State Employees’ Retirement System notified John Waltman, 61, of Lower Southampton, his February state pension check for $989.35 would be his last.
“No further benefits are payable from this account,” according to a copy of the March 15 letter obtained by this news organization through a Right to Know request.
Additionally, Waltman must reimburse the state agency $1,418.07 in overpayments, which reflect the amount of retirement benefits Waltman received for the 41 days between when he pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in Philadelphia to Feb. 28, when the day his last check was issued, according to the letter. If the money isn’t returned, the matter would be referred to the state Attorney General’s Office.
Waltman pleaded guilty Jan. 18 to conspiring with two other Lower Southampton public officials to launder money, and admitted he accepted a bid to fix a traffic ticket and tried to extort local businesses with promises of township contracts in exchange for kickbacks. He is scheduled to be sentenced on May 2.
In its letter, the pension agency told Waltman its legal team determined one of the federal crimes to which he pleaded guilty, Hobbs Act Extortion Under Color of Right, was “substantially” the same as theft by extortion and bribery in official and political matters, which are certain state crimes that trigger pension forfeiture for state employees and officials under a law known as Act 140.
Waltman had been drawing on a lump sum pension payment of $47,746.70 since retiring last June, according to PSERS records. He collected a little under $7,000 over the last seven months, according to calculations based on his monthly disbursement.
The former district judge joined PSERS in 2010 and he remained enrolled in PSERS for a year after he was suspended without pay from his magisterial court position following his indictment on money laundering charges in December 2016.
Under state law, Waltman was entitled to collect his retirement benefit while the state agency reviewed the legal paperwork related to his guilty plea to determine if it triggered the state pension forfeiture law. The law only covers certain crimes under the state crimes code, and those crimes must relate to the member’s job duties to result in a potential forfeiture.
The Pennsylvania Legislature this month passed a bill, which Gov. Tom Wolf is expected to sign, that would add any job-related felony offense and crimes with a potential prison sentence of more than five years to the list of offenses that trigger a pension forfeiture action. Pension benefits would be forfeited upon entering a guilty or nolo contendere. or no contest, plea, or if found guilty.
The legislation also would ensure the pension boards are notified when a public employee is convicted rather than rely on news stories or outside information.
The legislation was seen as closing a loophole that allowed convicted former state Sen. Robert Mellow restore his $245,000-a-year pension in 2017 despite pleading guilty to federal conspiracy charges, a crime that was not considered a trigger for pension forfeiture under the law.
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