The forgery case that abruptly ended former state Rep. Linda Bebko-Jones’ political career will not prevent her from collecting her state pension of nearly $31,000 a year.

The 62-year-old Democrat pleaded guilty Tuesday in Harrisburg to forging signatures on her nominating petitions in the 2006 primary, and she was sentenced to a year of probation and 200 hours of community service.

The charges to which Bebko-Jones pleaded guilty are violations of the state Election Code. Election-law violations are not on the list of more than 20 crimes that, in the case of a conviction, require Pennsylvania state employees to forfeit their pensions.

The plea deal means that the Pennsylvania State Employees’ Retirement System will not be able to seek forfeiture of the pension Bebko-Jones accumulated in the 14 years she represented the 1st Legislative District, which includes Erie’s east side.<
a href=“http://www.goerie.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080806/NEWS02/808060326/-1/RSS01” target=”_blank”>Full Article and Source