Category: Lowell
Democrat fraudster begs to keep $800,000 state pension funded by taxpayers
A disgraced former lawmaker in Massachusetts is still hoping that taxpayers will help keep him comfortable in his retirement years, despite his criminal convictions.
In February 2021, Democratic ex-state Rep. David Nangle, who represented the Lowell area for two decades and even sat as vice chair of the House Ethics Committee for a time, pled guilty to nearly two dozen charges related to stealing money from his campaign for personal expenses, defrauding banks, and failing to report income to the IRS.
It was ‘only because he had been a member of the House of Representatives at the relevant time that he was in a position to illegally withdraw funds from his campaign account.’
According to the Boston Globe, Nangle stole $70,000 from his campaign and defrauded banks of over $300,000 in ill-begotten loans. Nangle has admitted that he has a gambling addiction, but prosecutors claimed that in addition to blowing money at the casino, he also spent money on luxury items and other personal expenses.
Nangle was sentenced to 15 months but served only about five months of that sentence behind bars.
The scandal also cost him his political career. Nangle was successfully primaried in September 2020 after 22 years in the seat.
After his conviction, the Massachusetts State Retirement Board decided to revoke the state pension he had accrued during his time in office, valued at over $800,000. A district court judge later upheld that decision.
Barry Chin/The Boston Globe/Getty Images
Nangle filed an appeal in Suffolk County Superior Court last week, requesting a review of “a judgment entered by the Lowell District Court, which affirmed the Defendant State Board of Retirement’s forfeiture of David M. Nangle’s vested state retirement allowance.”
Nangle has argued that his crimes were in “no way” related to his work in public office and that the stolen money did not involve “governmental funds or property,” the Globe said.
The retirement board and Lowell District Court Judge Pacinco DeCapua don’t seem to be buying it. According to the Globe, DeCapua even noted it was “only because he had been a member of the House of Representatives at the relevant time that he was in a position to illegally withdraw funds from his campaign account.”
Nangle, 65, has also claimed that he will be “destitute” without the pension, but the Globe, citing DeCapua’s ruling in January, reported that Nangle was working three jobs, collecting $6,000 a month for just one of them.
DeCapua, who acknowledged Nangle’s “road of redemption” regarding addiction, nonetheless determined that his actions “dishonored his title as a State Representative.”
Paul Craney of the Massachusetts Fiscal Alliance seems to agree. He told Blaze News in a statement: “A bank robber doesn’t get to keep his steal after he is convicted, and a state lawmaker shouldn’t be able to keep their pension after being convicted of fraud. If it were allowed, every bad impulse would be acted upon by our legislature.”
Nangle’s attorney did not respond to a request for comment from Blaze News.
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