CNBC—Sheldon Silver, the powerful New York state legislator found guilty Tuesday on seven corruption charges, faces decades in jail if his conviction is upheld.
But, unlike millions of his former constituents, the former assembly speaker's retirement plan is apparently still on track.
That's because, under New York state law, Silver, 71, is entitled to collect his state pension — estimated at nearly $100,000 a year by a state watchdog group, according to syracuse.com.
Federal prosecutors may yet ask to have Silver's pension revoked as part of his sentencing. (No date has been set.)
But despite state and federal laws designed to revoke pensions of convicted public officials, critics of these measures say that too many convicts who once held elected office continue to collect monthly payments thanks to exclusions, loopholes and legal technicalities.
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