Robert Budd Dwyer was an American politician who served as the 30th State Treasurer of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Dwyer committed suicide during a live press conference on January 22, 1987. He was convicted in 1986 for accepting a bribe from the California firm that won the contract. In 2010, former U.S. Attorney James West, who prosecuted Dwyer, affirmed his guilt.
About R. Budd Dwyer in brief
Robert Budd Dwyer was an American politician who served as the 30th State Treasurer of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Dwyer committed suicide during a live press conference on January 22, 1987. He was convicted in 1986 for accepting a bribe from the California firm that won the contract. In 2010, former U.S. Attorney James West, who prosecuted Dwyer, affirmed Dwyer’s guilt. All posthumous appeals made by Dwyer’s lawyers on his behalf were denied, and his convictions were upheld. He maintained that he was not guilty of the charges for which he was convicted, and that his conviction resulted from political persecution. He served from 1965 to 1971 as a Republican member of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives and from 1971 to 1981 as a member of the Pennsylvania State Senate representing the state’s 50th district. In 1984, Dwyer ran for and won the office of Pennsylvania Treasurer that had been held by Robert E. Casey since 1976. He ran for a second and last term in 1984 and won reelection to the seat. He died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head in front of a crowd of reporters in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, in 1987. His suicide was broadcast later that day to a wide television audience across Pennsylvania. He is survived by his wife, two daughters, a son, and a daughter-in-law. He leaves behind a wife and two step-children. He also leaves a son and a step-daughter, both of whom are still living in the United States and have lived in Pennsylvania for most of their lives.
He never had any children of his own and was married to his wife until his death. He had a son who is also a politician and served as a Pennsylvania State Senator. He has a daughter who is currently serving as a State Representative for the 50th district of Pennsylvania. In the early 1980s, Pennsylvania discovered its state workers had overpaid federal taxes due to errors in state withholding. As a result, a multi-million-dollar recovery contract was required to determine the compensation to be given to each employee. The state required an accounting firm to determine refunds for its employees. In early 1984, Dennis Schatzman, deputy controller of the Pittsburgh school district, noticed financial discrepancies in the CTA contract, and wrote to Pittsburg school officials regarding these. In July 1984, Janice Kincaid, a former CTA employee, released a sworn statement claiming that Dwyer awarded the contract to CTA because he was promised a USD 300,000 kickback by the company. Subsequently, the Office of Pennsylvania Auditor General informed the FBI of the bribery that occurred during the awarding of the contract with CTA on July 11, 1984. Upon learning of this investigation, the FBI rescinded the contract and Dwyer later admitted that neither the US attorney nor the prosecution had the authority to pursue the evidence to pursue Dwyer. In October 1984, the prosecution’s main witness, William Trickett Smith, admitted in October 1984 that he offered Dwyer a bribe, which Dwyer accepted.
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