(The following story by Jason Cato appeared on the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review website on December 11.)
PITTSBURGH, Pa. — A Lincoln-Lemington man pleaded guilty Monday to committing a federal crime by not telling the government he took a part-time job to help his ailing daughter.
Gerald P. Vanstory, 65, was charged with failing to disclose information to the U.S. Railroad Retirement Board, specifically that he was earning more than $400 a month while collecting medical benefits.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Shaun Sweeney said Vanstory collects about $20,000 a year from the pension.
Vanstory said he took a job as a truck driver to help his 37-year-old daughter, a mother of two who suffers from multiple sclerosis.
“I broke the rules,” Vanstory said. “If you break the rules, you have to pay.”
From March 2004 through December 2006, Vanstory drove a truck for the Pittsburgh Leadership Foundation, a Christian community outreach organization. Vanstory said he earned up to $800 some months.
His attorney, Lee Markovitz, said his client did the wrong thing for the right reasons.
“If that was my daughter, I would have done the same thing,” Markovitz said. “He’s a good man. In my eyes, he’s a prince.”
Vanstory worked for more than 20 years as a freight conductor and locomotive engineer, first with Pittsburgh and Lake Erie Railroad and later with Norfolk Southern. He retired in 2001.
Vanstory faces up to a year in prison and a $100,000 fine. He will be sentenced April 24 by Senior U.S. District Judge Alan N. Bloch.