Rule that forgives the dead allows convicted lawyer's family to claw back forfeited cash, judge says
The family of a convicted lawyer who forfeited $150,000 in an alleged pension fund bribery scheme will get the money back because he died before sentencing and appeal, a federal judge has ruled.
U.S. District Judge Nancy Edmunds ruled for the estate of Detroit pension fund lawyer Ronald Zajac, who died of natural causes in July before he was sentenced for conspiracy to commit honest services fraud. The Detroit News and the Detroit Free Press have stories on the Oct. 5 decision (PDF).
Edmunds dismissed the indictment and ordered the money returned to the estate, citing two principles. The first is that criminal wrongs are buried with the offender, a principle known as abatement ab initio. The second is that the state should not be allowed to enjoy the fruits of an untested conviction.
The government had argued the money, which was seized as a result of a preliminary forfeiture order, was a fine analogous to time served and not refundable.
Prosecutors had alleged Zajac got a substantial raise, earning more than $400,000 a year, after he solicited gifts for two city officials from people doing business with the two pension funds.
