Orie sisters to be sentenced on May 7
PITTSBURGH (AP) — Suspended state Supreme Court Justice Joan Orie Melvin and her sister have been scheduled to be sentenced May 7 for their conviction earlier this month on campaign corruption charges.
Melvin and Janine Orie were convicted of theft of services and other crimes for misusing the justice’s former superior court staff and the state-paid staff of a third sister, Sen. Jane Orie, to do political campaign work.
The sentencing date was announced Thursday.
That happened when Melvin ran unsuccessfully for the Supreme Court in 2003 and again in 2009 when she won a seat on the state’s highest court.
The sisters are expected to appeal that conviction but court rules prevent that from happening until they’ve been sentenced.