NEWARK, N.J. (AP) - An appeals court has declined to reinstate a year of retirement benefits for a former New Jersey mayor who worked as a college professor, citing his federal conviction.
Nj.com reports that the court said it was reasonable for the pension program to strip Sharpe James of those Essex County College earnings because of the mail fraud conviction, for which he served 18 months.
James, Newark’s mayor for 20 years, worked at the college for 18 years as a physical education instructor. He returned at the end of his mayoral term as a senior fellow and municipal government professor.
James argued that the conviction was unrelated to his college role. In an email to NJ Advance Media, he called the decision “ludicrous and an insult to justice and fair play.”
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Information from: NJ.com, http://www.nj.com
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