SAVANNAH — Former Savannah Police Chief Willie Lovett has been sentenced related to his conviction on commercial gambling and extortion charges. However, he gets to keep his $130,000 a year pension.

Lovett, convicted last November, has been sentenced to 7 1/2 years in federal prison and fined $50,000.

He was convicted of what prosecutors called, “selling his badge” and pocketing more than $75,000 by allowing an illegal casino to operate in Savannah.  He was convicted of protecting the gambling operation from police for over 10 years until he retired in 2013.

In a bit of irony, he still is able to collect the $130,000 pension he draws from the city when he retired as Police Chief.  Authorities stated that since he retired before the charges were brought the city still owes him his pension.