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Fumo disclosure on addictions could pay off

Former State Sen. Vincent J. Fumo's effort to delay his prison term by citing addictions to Xanax and alcohol may have failed, but the embarrassing disclosure might still pay off for him.

Former state Sen. Vince Fumo near his South Philly home: He has multiple addictions to prescription drugs and alcohol, says a court document. (David MaialettiI / Staff Photographer)
Former state Sen. Vince Fumo near his South Philly home: He has multiple addictions to prescription drugs and alcohol, says a court document. (David MaialettiI / Staff Photographer)Read more

Former State Sen. Vincent J. Fumo's effort to delay his prison term by citing addictions to Xanax and alcohol may have failed, but the embarrassing disclosure might still pay off for him.

Under federal Bureau of Prisons policy, the 66-year-old Fumo could slash a year off his sentence by enrolling in a substance-abuse treatment program while incarcerated. The former lawmaker thus conceivably could end up serving only three years behind bars.

In a July decision that sparked widespread anger, U.S. District Judge Ronald L. Buckwalter gave Fumo a 55-month prison sentence. With time off for good behavior, Fumo would be expected to serve just four years of that.

Carla Wilson, a regional official with the Bureau of Prisons, said the year of reduced time for addiction treatment would be in addition to the discount for good behavior.

It was not known yesterday whether Fumo intended to seek admission to such a program. The leaders of his legal team, Dennis J. Cogan and Samuel J. Buffone, did not return telephone calls.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Robert A. Zauzmer, who prosecuted Fumo along with Assistant U.S. Attorney John J. Pease, declined to comment yesterday. The two have filed notice that they wish to appeal Fumo's sentence, which they have called "unduly lenient."

In their effort to postpone Fumo's incarceration, his lawyers filed documents that provided a wealth of information about what is characterized as his "addictions to prescription drugs and alcohol."

The documents, released yesterday after Buckwalter turned down the defense's request that they remain out of the public's view, show that Fumo didn't just have a house loaded with Oreck vacuum cleaners. He also had a medicine chest stuffed with prescription drugs.

In addition to Xanax, an anxiety medication, Fumo has also taken Ambien to sleep and Prozac to fight depression, according to the filings. He has taken Imitrex to quell headaches, Darvocet to stave off back pain, Nexium to fight acid reflux, and Immodal for intestinal distress.

To treat his heart problems - he has had two heart attacks - he takes, among other drugs, Lipitor, Tricor, and Plavix.

These prescription drugs and others, plus two or more glasses of wine, were downed routinely by Fumo as he coped with the impending prison term, the documents say.

In their rebuttal filing, prosecutors Zauzmer and Pease ripped into the former legislator over the issue.

They said that "at worst," the disclosure amounted to "Fumo's latest effort to deceive the court and manipulate the judicial process."

Among other points, the prosecutors said Fumo's doctors had raised questions about him as a drug abuser only after his sentencing.

Although the defense motion asking the judge to delay the Aug. 31 start of Fumo's prison sentence portrays him as a debilitated man who relies on many prescription drugs to function, he seemed fit and rested when talking to reporters before entering a party Wednesday night to celebrate his engagement to Carolyn Zinni.

Nevertheless, the defense affidavit filed Monday said Fumo's newly hired addictions counselor, Marsha Schwartz Klein, needed two additional months to help him kick Xanax.

On Thursday, Buckwalter rebuffed Fumo's bid, saying the Aug. 31 date held. He said Fumo could shake his addictions in prison.

Buckwalter also rejected the defense request that its filings alleging alcohol and drug problems be kept secret. Prosecutors had asked that all these court documents be made public, saying the issues before the court were of "substantial public importance."

Like Fumo's marathon trial, the new filing further exposed Fumo's troubled psyche. In an affidavit, his addictions counselor called him a "poly-substance-abuser."

In particular, the court filings said Fumo had been abusing Ambien, Xanax, and Darvocet, mixing them as he drank.

In their initial meeting Aug. 5, Schwartz Klein wrote, Fumo told her that he had been "self-medicating in order to cope with the extreme mental and emotional stress he was feeling as a result of his criminal prosecution."

Fumo told her he had valid prescriptions, but would hoard pills and swallow them in excessive quantities along with alcohol, though he'd been advised not to.

He told her that his fiancée had become concerned about his abuse of drugs and alcohol. Fumo cited a worrisome family history, saying his mother, late in life, had become addicted to alcohol.

When Fumo stopped taking Ambien, it resulted in a "major sleep disruption," Schwartz Klein said. But this only caused him to step up his Xanax intake, she said.

A dominant political figure in Harrisburg and Philadelphia for almost three decades, Fumo was convicted in March of all 137 counts with which he had been charged. A jury found he had defrauded the Senate and a pair of nonprofit organizations of at least $2 million and tried to obstruct the FBI's investigation.

Congress added the sentence reduction for drug treatment to federal law in 1994 to give inmates an incentive to seek help.

Linda Thomas, a spokeswoman with the Bureau of Prisons in Washington, said prisoners who seek to enroll in the program are vetted to verify their addictions.

"If they are accepted," she said, "they would work with the team to address the [dependency] issues."

Inmates get varying amounts of reduction in their time based on the length of their sentence. Fumo could qualify for up to a year, the maximum permitted any prisoner.

Although there was no word yesterday about where Fumo would do his time, his new identity was disclosed. He will be known to prison officials as inmate 62033-066.

To see the video of Vincent J. Fumo's arrival at his party Wednesday night, go to http://go.philly.

com/fumobash

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