Wednesday, August 29, 2012

Attorney General Seeks Recovery of Incarceration Expenses

 
HARTFORD - The state is again seeking to recover the costs of incarceration for a former state probation officer, Richard Straub, who was convicted of sexually abusing eight juveniles, and later convicted of the attempted murder for hire of a state prosecutor.
Attorney General George Jepsen issued a press release Monday announcing that his office will be seeking to recover these costs.
Straub is serving his sentence in a Florida prison as part of a prisoner exchange compact with Florida. He began serving his 15-year sentence on the abuse convictions in 2000 and his consecutive sentence on the subsequent conviction in March, 2010. He continues to receive a monthly state pension of approximately $3,788 after taxes and deductions, according to Jepsen.
“Connecticut taxpayers should not be expected to pay for the cost of incarceration, when Mr. Straub can afford to pay for those expenses himself through his state pension,” Jepsen said, in the announcement.
 Connecticut’s pension revocation law does not apply in Straub’s case because it took effect on Oct. 1, 2008, after Straub’s original conviction. However, the state can still seek to attach any assets he may have, including his state pension, to help offset the cost of his incarceration.
According to Jepsen, his office is seeking a judgment in Superior Court in Hartford requiring Straub to pay the state $179,816 for the expense of keeping him in prison through March 1, 2014. He has been in a Florida prison since September 2004.
This is the second time the Attorney General's office has sought to attach Straub’s pension to pay for the cost of his imprisonment. The first time, Straub declared bankruptcy and the state was only legally entitled to recover only $98,000 on its $450,000 bankruptcy claim.
Straub’s bankruptcy discharged all unrecovered costs for his incarceration on the original conviction. However, Straub’s subsequent conviction on the failed murder-for-hire scheme occurred after his bankruptcy discharge, making the expenses for that sentence subject to recovery. Straub began serving that sentence on March 7, 2010 and he is not eligible for parole before Dec. 1. 2013.
 
- From a press release from the Attorney General's office, read the original here.
 
 Read an in-depth article published in the New Haven Register from May for more information: "Does crime pay after all? Former state workers still get pensions despite criminal convictions" Either scroll down on this blog, or read that story here.

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