Bettencourt denied pension and benefits in exam scam

PEABODY – Peabody Police Lt. Edward Bettencourt will not be getting his pension, afterall.The State’s Public Employee Retirement Administration Commission (PERAC) voted last week to deny Bettencourt of his payments of roughly $5,000 a month. He also lost his health benefits package from the city. What Bettencourt will receive, however, is the money he contributed to his account, without interest, throughout his 24 years in the department.Bettencourt’s battle over his pension began in April after he was convicted in Suffolk Superior Court on 21 counts of unauthorized access to a computer. Associate Justice Margaret Hinkle found him guilty of the Christmas 2004 crime when he accessed the confidential information of 20 fellow officers and one Salem officer to look up their scores on the Civil Service Exam. He was fined $10,500.After a seven-week investigation, the Peabody Retirement Board voted 3-2 in favor of granting Bettencourt his full retirement pension. They believed that his case did not fall under the terms mentioned in Ch. 22 Sec. 15 of Massachusetts General Law, which states that any member who has been convicted of a violation of laws applicable to his office or position shall not be entitled to a retirement.”I think the majority of the board felt that the offenses were not necessarily linked to his duties as a police officer,” said Attorney Michael Sacco, who represented the board, after the July decision. He had no comment after hearing the state’s most recent verdict.”Contrary to the findings of the majority of the Peabody Retirement Board, there is not substantial evidence to suggest that this crime is not related to his office or position,” said Joseph Connarton, executive director of the PERAC, in a letter to the local board.Connarton continued to say that it is undisputed that Bettencourt committed the crimes while on duty, on the police department grounds, and using equipment that belonged to the department.”As such, these were per se crimes related to his office or position,” he said.Bettencourt’s attorney Paul T. Hynes was unavailable for comment. The former lieutenant has 30 days to file an appeal against the Commission in Peabody District Court.