Vince Fumo Returns … To His Mansion, Not A Halfway House
A once-towering state senator from Philadelphia returned to his own home late Tuesday night after serving four years in federal prison for fraud and just an hour or so in a halfway house where he was expected to stay for six months.
NBC10 cameras captured Vincent Fumo arriving back at his Fairmount section of Philadelphia mansion Tuesday night.
Fumo, a Philadelphia Democrat, was released from prison in Kentucky Tuesday morning. He left shortly after 9 a.m. and embarked on a nine-hour drive back to Philadelphia.
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It’s believed Fumo is still a wealthy man. In fact, after spending an hour checking in at the halfway house, he left and made his way to his 33-room mansion on Green Street in the city’s Fairmount section.
“Money means everything in the political business, but money is the problem he has to cope with,” said former Philadelphia City Councilman Jimmy Tayoun.
Tayoun served years in federal prison and publishes the Philadelphia Public Record.
Fumo will never serve in public office in Pennsylvania again, but Tayoun says he can still wheel and deal and influence the political arena.
“The current that will drag him into politics is very strong, because he has spent most of his life in that system,” said Tayoun.
AP:
Fumo’s home was decorated with yellow ribbons and happy-face balloons.
Fumo is slated to work for his defense lawyer, Dennis Cogan, for his work-release job, although he can no longer practice law.
His legal troubles aren’t over, though. The IRS is seeking millions, and federal prosecutors want him to pay another $800,000 in restitution, above the $3.5 million he’s already paid.