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Vince Fumo is getting screwed. I am not a Fumo apologist. I don’t agree with how he used his political power like the head of some feudal system with the rest of us his serfs. He has never done me any favors. I have never met him, unless you count seeing him scarfing down a rib-eye at the Capital Grille.
In fact, the only contact I ever had with his office was when, after retiring from my government job, I applied for work as a staffer. The reply was essentially, “Don’t call us; we’ll call you.” The call never came. But this isn’t about whether you like Fumo personally or whether you agree with his politics or whether you think on balance he at least gave back to South Philly part of the spoils. This is about a vendetta by federal prosecutors — and paid for by taxpayers — for reasons that have to do with hanging a high-profile scalp in your den rather than the pursuit of justice.
To recap — Fumo was found guilty in 2009 of abusing his political power. The evidence was there; a fair verdict was rendered. He was sentenced to four-and-a-half years in a federal prison in Ashland, Ky., far from his favorite bottle of red and juicy rib-eye. Fumo was 66 at the time.
When you are in power politics for as long as Fumo, you not only make allies and acquire hangers-on, you also make powerful political enemies. Almost as soon as the verdict was handed down, Fumo’s enemies, aided and abetted by the major media outlets in this town, started the drumbeat that Vince had gotten off too easy. His sentence was compared to other sentences handed down in other political corruption cases — namely former City Treasurer Corey Kemp, who got 10 years. Kemp is black, and the implication was the white guy got off easy. The possibility that Kemp also got screwed never got a thought.
It is easy to rile up the public about rich crooks getting sent to “country club” prisons. The feds were embarrassed. It is never a good idea to embarrass the feds. Suddenly the political benefits won by bringing Fumo down turned into a liability because of the manufactured media firestorm. The feds asked for and got a new sentencing hearing on some technicalities. They want his sentence tripled. Fumo is now 68. Tripling his time effectively sentences him to a federal prison for the rest of his life.
For those of you who believe that Fumo has been living in a “country club” the last two years, he has reportedly been reduced to a shaggy-haired, overweight prisoner who wears a beard to hide a rash on his face. Even if his sentence remains unchanged, he will likely not enjoy freedom until he is older than 70. He reportedly suffers from heart disease and some other senior ailments.
He has been stripped of political power. He will have received his just punishment and have enough time, perhaps, to concentrate on the good that he has accomplished for South Philadelphia and leave a decent legacy. He is not going to be restored as the evil prince anymore. He will not be a threat to anyone. All of us who deserve honest politicians will have gotten our just pound of flesh. But what the feds are doing now demeans justice.
I would love to see Fumo become an advocate for better prison conditions. Let’s face it. We all want criminals caught, more prisons built and justice served. But part of the punishment in prison shouldn’t be homosexual rape. I, for one, don’t find the jokes by late night TV comedians about being forced to share a cell with “Bubba” at all funny. Yeah, I understand it is jail we are talking about. However, we should be ashamed, if we have any humanity left, about the filthy conditions of our prisons, the disgusting unhealthy swill that prisoners are forced to eat and the jailhouse “justice” being meted out while guards look the other way. Prisoners and their families are charged outrageous sums just to be able to communicate by phone. Supplies are stolen. Drugs are allowed to flourish. Kickbacks are a way of life.
Politicians love to posture about being tough on crime. There are no votes in treating prisoners humanely. Yet, we wonder why our prisons are breeding grounds for future crimes on the outside. Remember folks, nearly all of these people are not staying incarcerated for life. Eventually they come out ticked off and ready for revenge and we wonder why. Many of those behind bars are not there for a violent offense.
About 50 percent of all prisoners in local, state and federal prisons are there for drug-related offences. Some are so old and pose no threat to society. We imprison more of our citizens than any democracy in the world, and I may add, on your taxes. Prisons are the fastest growing industry in the nation.
This is the kind of outrage to which a smart guy like Fumo can call attention to. He is living that life with two-and-a-half years to go on his sentence. Tell the feds to go pick on somebody else. They won their just conviction. I’m sure there are plenty of other corruption cases to root out, including a banker or two. Be happy, you toppled the prince. Machiavelli has been humbled. There is a point where prosecution becomes persecution. SPR
Contact the South Philly Review at editor@southphillyreview.com.
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