(ASSOCIATED PRESS) HARRISBURG, Pa. -- The state must restore the pension of former Penn State assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky that was taken away three years ago on the day he was sentenced to prison on child molestation convictions, a court ordered Friday.
A Commonwealth Court panel ruled unanimously that the State Employees' Retirement Board wrongly concluded Sandusky was a Penn State employee when he committed the crimes of indecent assault and involuntary deviate sexual intercourse, which were the basis for the pension forfeiture.
"The board conflated the requirements that Mr. Sandusky engage in 'work relating to' PSU and that he engage in that work 'for' PSU," wrote Judge Dan Pellegrini. "Mr. Sandusky's performance of services that benefited PSU does not render him a PSU employee."
Advertisement - story continues below
Sandusky, 71, collected a $148,000 lump sum payment upon retirement in 1999 and began receiving monthly payments of $4,900.
