Fumo launches postprison consulting business

Like a run of convicted Pennsylvania politicians before him, former State Sen. Vincent J. Fumo is beginning to build a postprison career advising clients how to work the levers of government.

The president of the Pennsylvania Thoroughbred Horsemen's Association said this week that his group had hired Fumo to provide it with "strategic input."

"He has unique experience both in the legislature and with the act" regulating gambling in Pennsylvania, said Salvatore M. DeBunda. "We felt that he paid his dues and he's allowed to go on with his life."

The hiring brings Fumo's embryonic client list to at least two. A leading marine-terminal company, Penn Warehousing & Distribution, has also hired Fumo to help block a rival from gaining control of desirable port acreage.

Fumo, 71, for decades the top Philadelphia Democrat in the state legislature, did not return calls seeking comment Tuesday. His lawyer, Dennis J. Cogan, could not be reached for comment.

On Friday, though, Fumo was in vintage form in an interview in which he promised to fight to defeat waterfront plans by Gov. Corbett "and his henchman."

He added: "How I do it, and what advice I give to do it, and who I direct to do it, is my business and my client's business."

DeBunda, a longtime ally of Fumo's, said the ex-senator would limit his role to providing in-house advice.

"He is not being asked to make any contacts," DeBunda said. He declined to reveal Fumo's fee.

Fumo completed four years behind bars and five months of home confinement in February and is now on probation until 2017.

In 2009, a federal jury found that he had defrauded the state Senate and two nonprofit organizations, as well as staging a cover-up in a failed bid to thwart the FBI and federal prosecutors.

Among many other offenses, prosecutors said Fumo hired cronies for no-show state jobs, used taxpayer money to hire a private eye to spy on romantic and political rivals, and overpaid a big staff to serve illegally as his servants and political foot soldiers.

The conviction cost him his law license and $100,000 annual state pension. He also lost a "rainmaker" position with a Philadelphia law firm that netted him almost $1 million annually for drumming up business.

Fumo is fighting an IRS demand that he pay about $4 million in back dues on his illegal gains. He's already paid about $4.5 million in restitution to his victims.

According to recent court testimony and documents, Fumo's net worth is about $3 million - a substantial sum, though down sharply from the $11 million it was pegged at immediately after his conviction.

In June, his lawyer said in a court filing that Fumo planned to open a consulting business to recoup the "enormous amount" he has spent on attorney fees and restitution.

No Pennsylvania law restricts Fumo from being a political consultant or lobbyist post-conviction.

While the state and the U.S. Congress don't ban felons from becoming lobbyists, a handful of other states do. New York adopted such a law earlier this year.

Barry Kauffman, executive director of Common Cause PA, which advocates tougher ethical rules in government, said Pennsylvania should do the same.

"It's not unusual in a profession if you engage in activity that harms your former practice, you're banned from doing it again," Kauffman said Tuesday.

Fumo joins a group of politicians convicted on corruption charges who have gotten out of prison and remade themselves as political consultants and lobbyists.

Perhaps the most prominent is former State Sen. F. Joseph Loeper, a Delaware County politician who was the Republican majority leader until he pleaded guilty in 2000 to obstructing a federal corruption investigation.

After serving a six-month sentence, Loeper built a big lobbying shop, with clients ranging from Peco Energy to the University of Pennsylvania, according to his lobbyist disclosure forms.

Now, he and Fumo share a client roster. Both say their clients include Penn Warehousing and the horsemen's association.

Unlike Loeper, Fumo has not registered with the state as a lobbyist.

Pennsylvania law says people must register as lobbyists if they communicate with the legislative or executive branches to influence a bill or an agency action. They must also make public their clients and any wining-and-dining.

But officials of the state Ethics Commission, which enforces the lobbying law, said Tuesday it was not immediately clear if people must register if their only contact is with state-affiliated agencies, such as the Philadelphia Regional Port Autority. The commission is researching the question.

The PRPA, whose board is appointed by the governor and four legislative leaders, will play a key role in deciding the fate of the port acreage.

As for the horsemen's association, Fumo and DeBunda have a long history, going back to the days when the then-state senator was a power on the Board of City Trusts and DeBunda was its counsel.

More significantly, Fumo played a key role in Harrisburg in drafting the bill that brought casino gambling to Pennsylvania - and carved out revenue for the state's horse-racing industry.

Under a provision that some critics have called a multimillion-dollar example of "corporate welfare," 12 percent of slots revenue is diverted annually to help support horse racing in the state.

In recent years, the horsemen's association has fought with Corbett as he has successfully dipped into that money to bail out the main state budget.

cmccoy@phillynews.com

215-854-4821 @CraigRMcCoy