Former New Jersey governor gets lifetime health benefits for 4 months as county attorney

JERSEY CITY, N.J. – Former New Jersey Gov. Jim McGreevey's four-month stint as a Hudson County attorney has brought him health benefits for life.

County spokesman James Kennelly tells The Jersey Journal (http://bit.ly/1YcKRtn ) that the county doesn't have a cap on service time in exchange for benefits.

McGreevey spearheaded the creation of a prisoner re-entry center for the county. Kennelly says the center's benefit outweighed the cost of ending up as his final government employer.

Officials didn't say how much money the benefits could cost.

The 58-year-old former governor runs Jersey City's prisoner re-entry program. He will receive a $66,837 state pension.

McGreevey declined to answer most questions from the newspaper but said he received a $75,000 salary from the county.

He resigned as governor amid a sex scandal in 2004 and announced that he was a "gay American."

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Information from: The Jersey Journal , http://www.nj.com/jjournal