Fired Swampscott police lt. allowed to receive pension

SWAMPSCOTT – A former Swampscott police lieutenant is entitled to receive his pension even though he was fired from the department.The Swampscott Retirement Board has ruled Peter Cassidy II, who was fired by selectmen in April for conduct unbecoming and criminal on April 6, 2006, will receive his pension.The members of the retirement board on Monday voted 3-1 to allow Cassidy to collect his pension.Tom Driscoll, John Behen and David Castellarin all voted to grant Cassidy his pension. John Kiley voted against Cassidy and Francis Delano Sr. did not vote because he has relatives on the department, who are mentioned in Cassidy’s file.Driscoll pointed out the only thing the retirement board needs to address is whether Cassidy was in violation of moral turpitude.”This is a guy who admitted he had a drinking problem,” he said. “But he wasn’t on duty when he was arrested in Vermont and he was charged with a misdemeanor. It makes no sense to punish him by saying he shouldn’t get his pension. If we had ruled he wasn’t eligible it would probably have been overturned on appeal.”Cassidy said he did not apply for his pension sooner because he was going through the arbitration process, which took more than two years, in an attempt to be reinstated.”It’s a minor battle won,” Cassidy said. “I did not know my retirement wouldn’t go back to the date I was terminated. I was told I would get it retroactive for the last three years but since then I’ve been told that’s not how it works.”Cassidy served with the department for 29 years and received numerous commendations during his tenure.One of the incidents mentioned at the time of his termination was an off-duty drunken driving arrest in Vermont Jan. 13, 2006. Cassidy pleaded guilty to that charge.The Retirement Board also voted to allow former police officer Thomas Wrenn, who resigned in March 2008 after being arrested by the Drug Enforcement Agency on felony drug trafficking charges, to receive what he has paid into the pension fund during his 10-year tenure with the department. In October, Wrenn, of 17 Prospect St., Nahant, was sentenced to time served; two years supervised release – the first six months of which are to be served in home confinement with electronic monitoring.Driscoll said Wrenn did not argue moral turpitude and said he would only receive any payments he made into the fund without interest.