Jerry Sandusky’s pension benefits are to be revoked by the State Employees’ Retirement System in the wake of his conviction of child sex abuse.
State Employees’ Retirement System sent letters to both Sandusky and his wife, Dottie Sandusky, Wednesday notifying them that Sandusky’s conviction means his pension will need to be given up.
Sandusky was convicted in June on 45 counts of sexually abusing boys he met through his charity, The Second Mile. Sandusky was sentenced Tuesday to serve 30 to 60 years in prison.
Sandusky’s lead defense attorney Joe Amendola wrote in an email that Sandusky received the notification Wednesday afternoon and that he is reviewing the paperwork. Amendola will most likely oppose the state’s action to revoke the pension, he wrote.
Sandusky’s other attorney Karl Rominger said before the notification of the pension forfeiture that the state does not have the grounds to take away the pension. Rominger said the offenses he was convicted of are not part of the enumerated offenses that warrants the revoking of pension.
Rominger said that if the state tries to strip Sandusky of his pension, he would fight the decision.
Sandusky reportedly earned $59,000 from his pension. When Sandusky retired from Penn State in 1999, he received $148,000 from the university.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
