Feds: Fumo should stay under supervised release

PROSECUTORS yesterday objected to convicted former state Sen. Vince Fumo's request to end his supervised release early.

"He offers no reason that he is unduly harmed in any manner by serving the full sentence imposed by the Court," Assistant U.S. Attorney Robert Zauzmer wrote.

Fumo, 71, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Ronald Buckwalter to serve 61 months of incarceration and three years of supervised release, and to pay about $4 million in restitution, fines and other fees after a federal jury convicted him in 2009 of 137 corruption counts.

Fumo served his prison and home-confinement time, paid his monetary dues, and began his supervised release on Feb. 2, 2014.

In a motion Friday, Fumo's attorney, Dennis Cogan, wrote that since his conviction, Fumo "has had a number of serious financial and medical setbacks."

Zauzmer contended that "Fumo remains, by any standard, a very wealthy man, who enjoys multiple residences and does not lack for anything. His financial circumstances are far better than those of most criminal defendants" and thus are not relevant. He also said Fumo does not give any reason why supervised release would interfere with his medical needs.

Buckwalter also ordered Fumo to serve 500 hours of community service under supervised release. Cogan wrote that Fumo volunteered 285 "outstanding" hours with Project HOME.

Zauzmer wrote that the judge ordered Fumo to finish the community service in his first year of supervised release, at the rate of 10 hours per week.

But "Fumo did not maintain that pace," Zauzmer wrote, adding that Fumo's probation officer advised that "Fumo did his community service one day a week, but suspended that effort while receiving medical treatment."

"Now that the treatment has ended, the probation officer informed Fumo that he should perform community service two days a week, but Fumo has ignored this directive," the prosecutor wrote.