By Associated Press Associated
Press/Keith Srakocic/Gene Puskar, FILE - FILE--These are file photos of
former state senator Jane Orie, right, from Feb. 29, 2012, her sister
Pennsylvania Supreme Court Justice Joan Orie Melvin,
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PITTSBURGH (AP) — The story has more irony than a Greek
tragedy. Three sisters from a devoutly Catholic family have seen their
personal and political careers ruined by a scandal that began with, of
all things, a letter to some nuns.
Thursday's conviction of suspended Pennsylvania Supreme Court Justice Joan Orie Melvin along with her aide and sister, Janine Orie, on campaign corruption charges mean they might join a third sister — former state Sen. Jane Orie — in state prison. No sentencing date has been set.
The former senator was sentenced
last year to 2½ to 10 years for using her state-paid staff to run her
campaigns, though she was acquitted of having them campaign for Melvin,
then a lower appellate court judge, who was running for the Supreme
Court in 2003 and 2009. Joan Orie Melvin
and Janine Orie were convicted in a spinoff investigation and found
guilty of similarly misusing Melvin's former staff and the senator's.
Dr. John Orie,
now 90, and his late wife, Jean, raised nine children including five
attorneys, Joan and Jane among them; two cardiologists; a teacher; and a
human resources manager, Janine, who worked for her sister Joan Orie
Melvin in the lower Superior Court before moving up with her to the Supreme Court.
Jim Roddey
is a prominent businessman who heads the Republican Party in Allegheny
County, where Republicans are outnumbered more than 2 to 1 by Democrats
and where Pittsburgh, the county seat, hasn't elected a GOP mayor since
the Great Depression.
And now? Jane Orie resigned her Senate seat in May, and Melvin's status on the state's highest court figures to change, one way or another.
State lawmakers have already asked her to resign or face articles of impeachment. If those are approved by the state House, Melvin would be tried by the Senate, which could remove her from office if she hasn't already been removed by the state's Court of Judicial Discipline.
Now that she has been convicted, Melvin has 30 days to respond to charges of misconduct filed with that court by the state's Judicial Conduct Board. If it is determined Melvin has violated professional conduct rules or the state Constitution, or brought disrepute to the judiciary, the court can remove her from office.
Melvin's criminal defense attorneys and her disciplinary court attorney didn't return calls Friday.
The Ories have argued the prosecution is the result of a political vendetta by Allegheny County District Attorney Stephen Zappala Jr., a Democrat, who has repeatedly denied ulterior motives.
When the investigation first became public in late 2009, the sisters claimed they were being targeted because Zappala's family has interests in legalized gambling, which the Ories opposed expanding in Pennsylvania.
The allegations grew uglier, when
Melvin — after it was known Sen. Orie was being investigated but before
the justice was charged — called for an audit of two child care centers
that paid kickbacks to two judges in northeastern Pennsylvania's
Luzerne County who sent troubled youths to the facilities.
The
facilities were co-owned by Gregory Zappala, the prosecutor's brother, who was never charged in the scheme and has repeatedly denied wrongdoing.
Roddey acknowledges the sisters' success in a politically hostile environment has something to do with that chatter.
"That's part of it," Roddey said. "But the other half of the equation is that her prosecutor was Stephen Zappala, and Joan's biggest public battle was she chastised the Supreme Court for what happened in Luzerne County."
During the investigation, which centered on the sisters' emails, prosecutors stumbled onto messages Sen. Orie and Melvin sent to the "angel lady," a Philadelphia psychic who read her client's written questions aloud before claiming to receive a whispered answer from an angel.
The senator and justice sought assurances from the $85-an-hour medium that Zappala's investigation wouldn't result in criminal charges.
But rather than being touched by an angel, the sisters were undone by some nuns.
That happened in late October 2009 — days before Melvin won her Supreme Court seat — when a Senate intern complained to Zappala that Sen. Orie's staff was doing campaign work for Melvin.
The complaint centered on a letter Sen. Orie wrote on Melvin's campaign stationery asking Pittsburgh-area nuns to vote for Melvin.
When Orie and Melvin learned of the whistleblowing intern, the senator had a staffer prepare another letter — a "cover-up" letter, according to prosecutors. This time, Sen. Orie — on her own stationery — spoke about civic events of interest to nuns but didn't mention Melvin.
Prosecutors contend the letter was created to make it appear the intern was simply mistaken about what she saw and was never mailed. Eventually, Sen. Orie's and Melvin's staffs told a grand jury about other illegal campaign work done in Orie's Senate offices and Melvin's chambers.
"Frankly, it's a smart group of people. How could they put themselves in this kind of situation?"
Burkoff said. "This is the kind of thing we'll be puzzling about for years."
___
Jackson reported from Harrisburg, Pa.
http://news.yahoo.com/3-political-sisters-pa-convicted-corruption-212941147.html
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