Rommel Asuncion. Credit: UT San Diego
Rommel Asuncion could become first person in San Diego region to be denied benefits due to felony conviction.
UT San Diego reported that a new law curtailing benefits for those who commit felonies “on the job” may be applied to the case of a former county worker who stole $360,000 (€264,000) worth of ink cartridges from the Department of Child Support Services in San Diego, California between 2007 and September 2012.
The decision to take away Asuncion’s pension benefits is to be made by the county pension board, San Diego County Employees Retirement Association (SDCERA), after the new law took effect earlier this year; with five public employees already having their pensions reduced. However, the law also requires the public agency to refund the affected employees with “any pension contributions made during the period that benefits are revoked”.
33-year old Asuncion was convicted of the crime in March 2013 and is currently serving a three-year jail term after pleading guilty to grand theft, which involved him stealing thousands of dollars worth of ink cartridges from his employer and selling them to a company that then sold them online. He was also ordered to repay the county the $363,192 (€266,358) in compensation for the cartridges he stole.
According to the article, Asuncion had “earned 11.7 years of service credit” during his role with the county, with the reform law allowing the county pension system to “stop paying any benefits he accrued during the period in which he was stealing”; and so he is now ineligible to receive benefits he accrued between 2007 and September 2012, but remains eligible for the benefits he earned between 200 and 2007.
Speaking on behalf of the SDCERA, Dan Flores said: “SDCERA is responsible for administering the benefits in accordance with the applicable laws […] This is the first time SDCERA has had an occasion to enforce the felony forfeiture portion of the new law, as this provision applies to members convicted of a qualifying felony on or after 1 January 2013.”
Meanwhile David Lagstein of the Service Employees International Union Local No. 221, which represents thousands of county workers, said: “In almost all circumstances, an employee that earns a pension should keep it […] However, if financial malfeasance has been committed as part of the job, then denying the benefits is an appropriate consequence.”