Penn Pike ex-chair Rubin to repay Senate $150k, house arrest in deal with USDOJ

Fired Pennsylvania Turnpike chairman Mitchell Rubin has agreed to repay the state senate $150k he received in no-work contracts and to serve six months house arrest and 4.5 years probation. He pled guilty to an obstruction of justice charge.

In US court documents filed today prosecutors say during months of talks he made differing and contradictory claims about his role for five years getting $30k/year on the payroll by his patron then-senator Vincent Fumo.

Eleven aides and consultants to Fumo could cite no work at all performed by Rubin, US attorneys say.

Rubin's wife Ruth worked as an aide to Fumo. She and Fumo are both serving jail sentences for fraud.

Rubin, 58, was spoken of as Fumo's nominee to the Turnpike in 1998 and for chairman from 2003.

The Commonwealth Foundation thinktank in Harrisburg last week drew attention to a 2005 report in the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review reporting expenses that Rubin ran up at the Turnpike including

- an average of $14.4k/year in meals and travel

- a dinner bill of $3,277 at one New York restaurant, $1,870 at a Nantucket MA eatery

- first class air travel to Paris and Madrid

He was on $28k plus health benefits and car for the part-time job as chairman.

Rubin never participated in any public discussion of Turnpike matters or made any significant comment we know of during 11 years on the commission. In recent years the talking was left to then-vice-chairman Tim Carson, CEO Joe Brimmeier and Turnpike official spokesmen.

http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/news/specialreports/turnpike/s_289182.html

TOLLROADSnews 2010-03-15