Skip to content
Link copied to clipboard

Rendell removes turnpike chairman in light of corruption probe

Two days after Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission Chairman Mitchell Rubin took an unpaid leave to deal with a federal corruption investigation, Gov. Rendell has removed him from the commission.

Gov. Rendell telling media he has removed Mitchell Rubin as the head of theturnpike panel.
Gov. Rendell telling media he has removed Mitchell Rubin as the head of theturnpike panel.Read more

Two days after Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission Chairman Mitchell Rubin took an unpaid leave to deal with a federal corruption investigation, Gov. Rendell has removed him from the commission.

Rubin, 57, is a close friend of former state Sen. Vince Fumo, who was convicted of 137 corruption charges last week. Rubin is also the husband of Ruth Arnao, Fumo's co-defendant, who was convicted of 55 corruption counts in the same trial.

In a letter released yesterday, Rendell noted that one of the accusations against Fumo was that he'd given $150,000 in state funds to B&R Services, Rubin's legal-document-filing company, "for which no work was ever done."

Fumo testified in the case that Rubin had been paid for advising him on important policy issues.

But Rendell noted that "no evidence was produced [at the trial] to demonstrate any work done" by Rubin's company and that the jury convicted Fumo of fraud in connection with the payments.

An FBI agent handed Rubin a target letter last week informing him that he could face criminal charges.

"Under these circumstances and others," Rendell wrote to Rubin, "it is inappropriate for you to remain as commissioner."

Rubin could not be reached for comment yesterday. He was paid $28,500 a year as chairman. His duties will be taken over for now by vice chairman Timothy Carson.

Meanwhile, Rendell appointed Philadelphia attorney Michael Pratt to restore the five-member commission to full strength. Pratt, a partner at the Pepper Hamilton law firm, must be confirmed by the state Senate. *