A former Waterbury city library clerk convicted of embezzling $200,000 will lose her public pension, state investigators say.
Lynette James, a city librarian from 1989 to 2014, signed a stipulation for judgment agreeing to forfeit about $13,000 annually that would have been her pension, state Attorney General George P. Jepsen said Thursday. A state judge approved the revocation.
James also agreed that about $43,000 she contributed toward her retirement will be applied to any restitution order stemming from the embezzlement, Jepsen said.
James pleaded guilty in April to one count of first-degree larceny. She is due to be sentenced in June.
She could not be immediately reached Thursday for comment.
“Theft from a municipality or the state is a serious violation of the public trust,” Jepsen said in a statement.
State lawmakers in 2008 enacted a statute authorizing the state attorney general to sue civilly for a reduction or revocation of pensions for state or municipal employees convicted of corruption-related charges, including embezzlement.
Jepsen said the settlement “guarantees that taxpayers will not be on the hook for the pension of someone guilty of stealing public funds.”
