Brickbat: No Bad Boys
(Juliu Ragnar | Dreamstime.com)
Lawrence Smith, a Baltimore City Schools Police officer of 22 years, pleaded guilty to federal wire fraud and tax evasion charges. Smith admitted stealing roughly $215,000 in taxpayer funds by logging overtime when he was not actually working. He has not yet been sentenced, but he faces as much as 25 years in prison and must forfeit at least $200,000 to the government and $61,233 to the IRS. But he will still draw his pension, because under current rules, the Baltimore City Employee Retirement System lacks a "bad-boy clause" to strip pensions for misconduct not involving elected officials.
