Judge Orders Former State Senator Vince Fumo To Pay More Restitution
By Walt Hunter
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- Former State Senator Vincent Fumo was back at the same Federal Courthouse where he was convicted of 137 counts of fraud and other charges in 2009, getting still more bad news from a Federal Judge.
U.S. District Court Judge Ronald Buckwalter, who had sentenced Fumo to 61 months behind bars, now ordered him to pay nearly $400,000 in additional restitution for his crimes.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Robert Zauzmer had requested that Fumo pay a larger percentage of restitution to a community group from which he, and co-defendant Ruth Arnao, had been convicted of swindling out of $1.6 million dollars. Previously, Fumo and Arnao had been ordered to split the restitution equally, but the judge now has ordered Fumo to pay 75 percent.
"This has take a tremendous financial toll on him," defense attorney Dennis Cogan said.
Fumo's attorneys claimed his financial worth, estimated at around $11 million in 2009, has dropped dramatically. They point out he has already paid more than $4 million in fines and restitution and he is battling with the IRS which is requiring him to pay almost $4 million in back taxes.
"I just hope for my client's sake, and for everybody's sake that they finally stop this," Cogan said.
Fumo, speaking briefly in court, told the judge it has been a "long road," and he hopes this ruling will be the final chapter of his sentence for his crimes.
"As I told the judge, it's been 10 years and today I think I know what my sentence is," Fumo said.
