Legal Research

New York School Official is Imprisoned for Theft

By David Badertscher, PLL

Source: Crime and Justice News, May 6, 2008.

"Frank Tassone earns $1.05 a day working as a porter at a New York prison--far from his comfortable days as the superintendent of a Long Island 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 Roslyn school district, which put him behind bars for 4 to 12 years, Tassone can count on his annual state pension of $173,495. He gets that in monthly installments of $14,458, reports Newsday."

"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 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."

Newsday

Full post as published by New York Supreme Court Criminal Term Library on May 06, 2008 (boomark / email).