Thursday, 4:30 PM
Finneran may lose state pension
By Jonathan Saltzman, GLOBE STAFF
As former House speaker Thomas M. Finneran heads Friday morning to federal court, where he is expected to plead guilty to obstruction of justice, he faces the almost certain loss of his $30,000-a-year pension because of a decision last year by the state Supreme Judicial Court.
The state’s highest court ruled unanimously in March that Boston Juvenile Court Clerk-Magistrate John P. Bulger forfeited his pension when he admitted that he lied to two federal grand juries investigating the disappearance of his brother, fugitive mobster James J. "Whitey" Bulger.
Alden Bianchi, cochairman of a Boston Bar Association committee on pensions, said Finneran’s case appears to be a more obvious violation of the Massachusetts law that bars employees from receiving a pension if convicted of a "criminal offense involving violation of the laws applicable to his office or position."
"If you’re looking for an example of a clear-cut case, this does seem to be one," said Bianchi, given that Finneran’s alleged misdeeds appear to have been directly related to his job.
Legal specialists said Finneran also could face a one-year suspension of his license to practice law.
Once the most powerful Democrat on Beacon Hill, Finneran agreed to plead guilty before US District Judge Richard G. Stearns in exchange for federal prosecutors dropping three perjury charges against him, two sources familiar with the deal told the Globe on Wednesday.
Finneran is expected to serve a term of unsupervised probation and pay a fine to end the protracted legal battle over charges that he misrepresented his role in the creation of a legislative redistricting plan that siphoned voting strength from Boston’s blacks and Hispanics.
