Opinion
No. 452 EAL 2020
08-04-2021
Joseph J. O'NEILL, Petitioner v. STATE EMPLOYEES' RETIREMENT SYSTEM, Respondent
ORDER
PER CURIAM.
AND NOW, this 4th day of August, 2021, 2021, the Petition for Allowance of Appeal is GRANTED. The issues, as phrased by Petitioner, are as follows:
(1) Whether the Commonwealth Court erred in holding that [Petitioner] forfeited his pension under the Public Employee Pension Forfeiture Act 140 by determining that the federal offense to which he pled guilty, 18 U.S.C. § 1001, was substantially the same as the Pennsylvania state offenses defined in 18 Pa.C.S. §§ 4906(a) and 4906(b)[.]
(2) Whether the Commonwealth Court erred when it relied upon unsound law in Merlino v. Philadelphia Board of Pensions and Retirement, 916 A.2d 1231 (Pa. [Cmwlth.] 2007) by failing to engage in the proper analysis to factually distinguish Merlino[.]
(3) Whether the Commonwealth Court erred when it failed to properly consider that this Honorable Court has not held that 18 U.S.C. § 1001 is substantially the same as 18 Pa. C.S. § 4906 when it declined to examine the underlying facts of [Petitioner's] federal conviction[.]