MARIA A. MORALES Herald Staff Writer

Former Miami City Manager Cesar Odio, convicted and sentenced to prison last year in a corruption scandal, will continue to receive his $58,166 a-year city pension.

Board members on Friday refused to reconsider their March vote in favor of Odio, who pled guilty to trying to obstruct an FBI investigation into a kickbacks-for-contracts probe at Miami City Hall. Odio has been receiving his pension since his resignation in September 1996. He will be released from jail in October.
``We already spent a lot of time and effort on this, and as a board, used our best judgment and voted with confidence [to continue the payments],'' said board member Caridad Montero, one of the five board members who voted in favor of Odio. Only one of those five could have reopened the discussion Friday.

The eight-member pension board was asked to reconsider the issue by Miami City Attorney Alex Vilarello, who acted at the request of Commissioner Tomas Regalado.

``With their decision, the board sent out the wrong message,'' Regalado said Friday. ``They're telling other employees of the City of Miami, `Do what you want -- we'll be here for you.' ''

Regalado said he will ask fellow commissioners to consider suing the board. Unlike his request to Vilarello -- which did not require full commission action -- Regalado must convince two other commissioners to side with him in order to begin legal action. He does not appear to have the necessary support.

Odio has argued that he is entitled to the money because he was not convicted of the kind of offense that would prohibit him from collecting a pension under Florida law.

The city's consultants, however, have a different opinion. According to the Tallahassee-based law firm of Blank, Rigsby & Meenan, Odio's obstruction conviction is an offense that should trigger the forfeiture of his benefits. Odio, they said, should only be entitled to a lump-sum payment of what he contributed to the pension fund: $209,017.

Odio's wife, Maria Antonieta Prio, said Friday that the board's decision has brought finality to her husband's pension upheaval.

``Justice has been served, thanks to their courage,'' Prio said. ``I feel that Cesar is paying for the offense he pled guilty to. Why ruin him and his family now? He should reap the rewards of 17 years of work.''