DA wants Melvin to have similar sentence as sister for Melvin
PITTSBURGH – Suspended state Supreme Court Justice Joan Orie Melvin deserves a public corruption sentence similar to that being served by her sister, state Sen. Jane Orie, a prosecutor said Monday.
Allegheny County District Attorney Stephen Zappala Jr.’s brief statement accompanied sentencing memorandums his staff filed for Melvin, 56, and a third sister, Janine Orie, 58, Melvin’s former aide. They were convicted in February on theft of services and other charges for misusing the state senator’s staff and Melvin’s lower court staff to illegally campaign for Melvin when she ran for the state’s highest court in 2003 and 2009.
Sen. Orie was convicted last year of similarly misusing her own staff on her own campaigns and is now serving 2½ to 10 years in prison. The former lawmaker was acquitted of ordering her staff to campaign for Melvin, however.
Melvin and Janine Orie face scheduled sentencing May 7 and Zappala’s office argued both sisters deserve sentences in the aggravated range of the sentencing guidelines.
“Regarding defendant Joan Orie Melvin, the actions of all three co-defendants are coextensive; therefore, we would expect a sentence similar to that given Jane Orie,” Zappala said in the statement.
“As to defendant Janine Orie, we consider her the lynchpin in the criminal conspiracy between the two public offices and over the tenure of co-defendant Joan Orie Melvin’s term of office, Janine Orie would realize substantial financial gains in excess of $10,000 per year.”
Assistant District Attorney Lawrence Claus explained that comment in his sentencing memorandum for Janine Orie who – Claus argued – received a $10,000 annual raise when she followed Melvin from the Superior Court to the Supreme Court after Melvin’s election to the high court in November 2009. Melvin lost the 2003 campaign to current Supreme Court Justice Max Baer.
Patrick Casey, an attorney representing Joan Orie Melvin, wrote in an email that he hasn’t seen the memorandum and can’t comment. An attorney for Janine Orie did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Melvin has already submitted her resignation from the high court effective May 1. The seven-member court has been operating with six members – three Republicans, like Melvin, and three Democrats – since she was suspended from the court without pay in August.
Gov. Tom Corbett has said he plans to nominate an interim justice within 90 days of Melvin’s resignation. If confirmed by the Senate, that person would serve until voters elect a new justice in 2015 to a full 10-year term. Chief Justice Ronald Castille has also said the six justices could appoint someone to fill the seventh seat until the 2015 election, and that option wouldn’t require Senate confirmation.
No matter what happens, Claus argued that Melvin’s conviction and her “11th hour” resignation “indicate her unwillingness to put the needs of the citizens of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania above her own personal interests.” Clause also said it showed her “lack of remorse and disregard for her duty to serve with `fidelity.”‘
The prosecutors argue Melvin also should repay more than $10,800 for the value of the political work performed for her by Sen. Orie’s staff; another $22,600 for the work done by Melvin’s staffers; and more than $4,600 to reimburse the state for the travel expenses of nine trial witnesses.
The documents also argue that both women should forfeit their state jobs.
Zappala’s spokesman Mike Manko said that appears to be moot in Melvin’s case, since her resignation will take effect before she’s sentenced. But Allegheny County Judge Lester Nauhaus asked attorneys for both sides to address that issue and, Manko said, it could become relevant should Melvin change her mind about resigning.
Though not part of her sentencing, Melvin also stands to lose a pension of up to $140,000, according to figures obtained by the Associated Press last month in Right-to-Know request.