CHARLESTON — Kanawha Circuit Judge Charles King approved a request to stay for a pension involving former state Supreme Court Justice Allen Loughry.
King agreed to stay the West Virginia Consolidated Public Retirement Board's effort to deny Loughry on Thursday, according to the Charleston Gazette-Mail.
In February, the pension board attempted to revoke Loughry's retirement benefits eligibility after he was convicted in federal court of 10 counts.
The pension board argued that under state law, employees of the state can have their benefits revoked for "less than honorable service," which they claim occurred with Loughry's actions and subsequent conviction.
The Charleston Gazette-Mail reported that Loughry racked up more than $117,000 of his own contributions to his retirement.
At the hearing, the pension board's attorney, Jeaneen Legato, said that even if his pension was revoked, Loughry would still receive the money he contributed into his retirement with interest.
Loughry was been sentenced to two years in prison Feb. 13 in U.S. District Court on 10 federal counts after being found guilty on 11 during his trial in the fall before Judge John Copenhaver.
Loughry was also ordered to pay fines and restitution in the amount of $12,273. He also will serve three years of supervised probation.
Loughry appealed the conviction to the U.S. Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals.
In addition to the federal charges, the state Judicial Investigation Commission (JIC) also had charges against Loughty that focused on Loughry’s violations of the Code of Judicial Conduct by making “false statements with the deliberate attempt to deceive, engaged in sophism and gave disinformation with the intent to harm another person.”
The JIC says Loughry denied that he had anything to do with renovations to his state Capitol office that included a $32,000 couch, $1,700 for throw pillows and a $7,500 wooden inlaid medallion in his office floor. The JIC also says Loughry violated the Code of Judicial Conduct “when he kept secret from other justices” a December 2017 federal subpoena served on the court.
