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  The response was among records released by SERS through a Right-to-Know request. If the pension forfeiture is upheld by the SERS board, Mellow has the right to appeal to Commonwealth Court. The board includes four state lawmakers and one former lawmaker. A majority vote of the SERS board would decide the appeal. Mellow faces a maximum of five years in federal prison and a $250,000 fine, but a sentencing date has yet to be set. The issues in this appeal revolve around how the state Pension Forfeiture Act applies to Mellow's pension. Mellow has the burden to prove that SERS made an incorrect decision.

\"After careful review of your record and the applicable law, SERS has determined that your entire retirement benefit is forfeited as of May 9, 2012, the date you entered your guilty plea in Federal Court,\" SERS wrote in a letter to Mr. [Robert Mellow]. \"Accordingly, your monthly annuity payments will cease, and the disbursement for May 2012 is the final monthly annuity payment that you will receive from SERS.\" Mr. Mellow's guilty plea triggered a review by SERS of court documents to determine if his crimes required loss of pension. SERS determined that the federal conspiracy crime Mr. Mellow pleaded guilty to is substantially the same as the state crime of theft by deception listed in Act 140 as a forfeitable offense. \"The administrative appeal process is adversarial in nature,\" SERS wrote to Mr. Mellow. \"You will have the burden of producing sufficient facts and legal authority to convince the Retirement Board that the staff of the State Employees' Retirement System made an incorrect decision in your case.\"

\"After careful review of your record and the applicable law, SERS has determined that your entire retirement benefit is forfeited as of May 9, 2012, the date you entered your guilty plea in Federal Court,\" SERS wrote in a letter to Mellow. \"Accordingly, your monthly annuity payments will cease, and the disbursement for May 2012 is the final monthly annuity payment that you will receive from SERS.\" Mellow's guilty plea triggered a review by SERS of court documents to determine if his crimes required loss of pension. SERS determined that the federal conspiracy crime Mellow pleaded guilty to is substantially the same as the state crime of theft by deception listed in Act 140 as a forfeitable offense. \"The administrative appeal process is adversarial in nature,\" SERS wrote to Mellow. \"You will have the burden of producing sufficient facts and legal authority to convince the Retirement Board that the staff of the State Employees' Retirement System made an incorrect decision in your case.\"

  Monday, the Commonwealth Court emphatically rejected the Senate's claims, some of which were preposterous, that it does not have to publicly release invoices for outside legal services relative to a federal criminal investigation of [Robert Mellow]. The former Senate minority leader pleaded guilty in 2012 to conspiracy to commit mail fraud and filing a false tax return. He has completed a federal prison term.

[Robert Mellow] collects a $138,958 annual taxpayer-funded state pension. He has received a monthly $11,580 pension check since he left the Senate in December 2010. When Mellow left the Senate, he also opted to collect $331,025 in a lump-sum pension payment from SERS. The lump sum represents Mellow's contributions to the pension fund during four decades in the Senate plus 4 percent interest. Mellow chose to withdraw the entire lump sum and receive it in four annual installments. So far, SERS has paid $118,874 of the lump sum to Mellow, according to information obtained in a Right-to-Know request by The Scranton Times-Tribune. \"Mellow engaged in a conspiracy to defraud taxpayers,\" said Eric Epstein, co-founder of RockTheCapitol, on Monday. \"If Mr. Mellow is allowed to keep his pension, it will incentivize corruption in Harrisburg.\"

HARRISBURG - Former Sen.

The underlying question is why anyone in state government is allowed to accept anything from anyone, since their work is supposed to be in the public interest. Yet state \"ethics\" rules allow lawmakers to accept \"gifts\" as long as they report anything worth more than $250, and \"hospitality\" worth $650 or more.

  The Senate's attempts to cloak [Robert Mellow]'s publicly funded legal aid in secrecy speaks to the corrupt culture in the Legislature that fostered Mellow's illicit use of public resources, the Bonusgate corruption investigation and others. It's shameful that the Supreme Court had to order the simple disclosure of how the Senate spent public money. Clearly, the Senate needs a dose of the thoughtful consideration finally employed by the colleges and the court.

  The Senate's attempts to cloak [Robert Mellow]'s publicly funded legal aid in secrecy speaks to the corrupt culture in the Legislature that fostered Mellow's illicit use of public resources, the Bonsugate corruption investigation and others. It's shameful that the Supreme Court had to order the simple disclosure of how the Senate spent public money. Clearly, the Senate needs a dose of the thoughtful consideration finally employed by the colleges and the court.

The Senate's attempts to cloak Mr. Mellow's publicly funded legal aid in secrecy speaks to the corrupt culture in the Legislature that fostered Mr. Mellow's illicit use of public resources, the Bonusgate corruption investigation and others. It's shameful that the Supreme Court had to order the simple disclosure of how the Senate spent public money. Clearly, the Senate needs a dose of the thoughtful consideration finally employed by the colleges and the court.