It ought to go without saying that breaking the law voids an agreement.

For example, if you shoplift at Walt Disney World and get kicked out, Disney is under no obligation to refund your expensive tickets. If you get in a fight in the bar of your hotel, be prepared to find a different place to sleep. Going to jail for two years or more? That’s grounds for divorce in Pennsylvania — even if the spouse isn’t the victim.

And so it is frustrating to know that a retired police officer collected pension checks after scheming with a superior to peddle drugs.

Regina McAtee had been suspended without pay from Greensburg police for five months when she retired in July 2023. That suspension came on the heels of the January 2023 arrest of the department’s then-chief, Shawn Denning. The two were formally charged March 13 with federal charges of a conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine.

Denning pleaded April 16; McAtee on May 1.

From August through April, McAtee collected more than $46,000 in pension payments. Greensburg officials have not confirmed whether a May 1 payment was made. City Administrator Kelsye Hantz says the pension issue is being reviewed.

Pennsylvania’s Public Employee Pension Forfeiture Act does prevent retired employees from collecting pensions in certain circumstances, including being found guilty or pleading guilty or no contest to a list of crimes. Most are felonies, although a few misdemeanors are included.

The list includes violent crimes like murder and aggravated assault. It largely covers the kind of things that betray trust: bribery, theft, perjury, etc. Sexual offenses against children were added to the list in 2004. Federal crimes are included if they mirror a Pennsylvania crime that would result in forfeiture. So are crimes in other states.

McAtee pleaded guilty, clearing the first hurdle. The federal charge is a felony, so that passes another. And criminal attempt, solicitation and conspiracy is specifically spelled out, making it a trifecta.

So perhaps there will be a process to officially forfeit McAtee’s pension. That should be the end result.

Whether it will be is anyone’s guess. Former Penn State assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky spent years having his $4,900-per-month pension ($200 less than McAtee’s) approved, denied, approved and denied again. Sandusky is serving a 30- to 60-year sentence at SCI-Laurel Highlands for 45 counts of child sex abuse crimes.

McAtee served as a Greensburg police officer for 19 years and so should be considered a vested employee, meaning that she would be able to collect her pension whether she retired or if the municipality had fired her — unless forfeited under the state law.

Allowing the process to play out over more than a year after Denning’s arrest meant McAtee was able to retire and collect her pension for months. The 14 months between his arrest and the filing of charges against both officers left the situation in limbo. It’s an unfortunate reality of the legal process that it is rarely speedy.

But if that delay means McAtee continues to collect her pension, that will compound the betrayal of trust.

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