Violette, MTA settle for $430,000
Paul Violette, the former head of the Maine Turnpike Authority who resigned this year over questions about his spending, has reached a $430,000 settlement with the authority.
Under the agreement, Violette will pay MTA $155,000, his present net worth, while bonding companies Travelers Casualty and CNA Surety will pay $175,000 and $100,000, respectively, according to the Portland Press Herald. The agreement settles a lawsuit MTA filed in July against its former executive director that alleged Violette redeemed at least $64,800 worth of gift cards for personal use instead of donating them to Maine organizations, some of which were used at expensive hotels in France, Greece and Puerto Rico. Violette also spent more than $140,000 in extravagant travel expenses and charged $24,820 in personal expenses to the authority's credit cards from 2003 to 2010, the suit claimed. Damages sought also included $166,000 in unused vacation time MTA paid Violette after he lied about not taking it, MTA officials said. Violette resigned in March and is currently unemployed.
MTA's board voted unanimously yesterday to accept the agreement. Chairman Daniel Wathen said MTA plans to reinvest the money into turnpike operations. A criminal investigation of Violette by the Maine Attorney General's Office is still ongoing.
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