Joan Orie Melvin, Pennsylvania Supreme Court Justice, Charged With Campaign Corruption
PITTSBURGH -- State Supreme Court Justice Joan Orie Melvin was charged Friday with illegally using her taxpayer-funded staff in her campaigns for a seat on the state's highest court in a scheme that ensnared her sister, a senator awaiting sentencing on similar charges.
Orie Melvin said outside court that she will vigorously defend herself against the nine criminal charges, which a grand jury report called a "tale of corruption" that she "actively condoned and even promoted."
"I am a woman of faith," Orie Melvin said. "My faith will see me through this. And I will not resign because of these politically motivated charges."
The high court relieved her of judicial and administrative duties Friday, but she remains a Supreme Court justice, on the payroll with a $195,000 salary and full benefits. The court also ordered Orie Melvin's Pittsburgh office sealed to secure records, files and equipment that are property of the court.
The charges come two months after her sister Republican state Sen. Jane Orie was convicted of 14 counts of theft of services, conflict of interest and forgery charges. Orie is scheduled to be sentenced in June, and her attorney has said in court filings that she will resign before then.
The grand jury report said Orie Melvin and her staff used personal email accounts to shield the actual email addresses that generated the messages, hiding the fact that political activities were being handled by the staffers while they were on the state payroll. Orie Melvin also used her state-paid telephone line to solicit support from hundreds of Republican committee members around the state, the report said.
Dang... I'm glad she's a "woman of faith", because I always hate to see a Republican who is an agnostic or atheist go down on criminal charges... Maybe she could go to work for the "Friends of Scott Walker"...I hear they could use some help on the telephone banks for someone with her particular set of skills....
RenegadeCJ wrote: Evil bullies don't care about the law.
Insert standard irrelevant "Dems did it too" link here: "Calif. Democratic treasurer perpetrated $7M fraud"
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) 3/28/2012 – Democratic campaign treasurer Kinde Durkee defrauded at least 50 candidates, officeholders and political organizations out of $7 million in a scheme that dates back more than a decade, according to a court filing made Tuesday by federal prosecutors.
The U.S. attorney's office in Sacramento filed the additional charges in federal court, providing the most detailed account to date in a case that has left some Democratic candidates scrambling for campaign cash in an election year.
Such filings typically are a prelude to a plea, but prosecutors would not confirm such a development or offer any further details.
Durkee, who heads Durkee & Associates in Burbank, was arrested in September and charged with suspicion of mail fraud after millions of dollars disappeared from the campaign accounts of U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein, other Democratic members of Congress and several Democratic state lawmakers.
The filing details a complex shell game in which Durkee shifted campaign money to cover an array of personal and business expenses.
In one example, $23,000 taken from Feinstein's account was used to help pay American Express credit card charges from the Los Angeles Dodgers, Amazon.com, Disneyland, Trader Joe's and Turners Outdoorsman.
Other misappropriations from Feinstein's account covered payments for a Long Beach condominium owned by Durkee and to the 401(k) plan for her employees.
The court filing said Durkee had devised a scheme from January 2000 until she was arrested last September "to defraud clients of Durkee & Associates, and to obtain money from them by means of materially false and fraudulent pretenses, representations and promises."
Something the Dog Said wrote: any bets on when LGT will ever post a substantial post rather than spin and deflect?
I learned from the Master... Lady Jazzer. Hey... while you're at it... why don't you make some substantial point on the "born in kenya" thread instead of just lying?
Isn't it great... We post articles about Supreme Court judges charged with 9 federal crimes; a domestic terrorist who gets caught after making bomb threats; and a confirmed case of credit-card fraud....and the best they can come back with is "pictures with junk food" and possible "plagiarized recipes"?
LadyJazzer wrote: Isn't it great... We post articles about Supreme Court judges charged with 9 federal crimes; a domestic terrorist who gets caught after making bomb threats; and a confirmed case of credit-card fraud....and the best they can come back with is "pictures with junk food" and possible "plagiarized recipes"?
You can't make this stuff up.
You may want to look a little closer in this thread. You can't make this stuff up.
Something the Dog Said wrote: any bets on when LGT will ever post a substantial post rather than spin and deflect?
I learned from the Master... Lady Jazzer. Hey... while you're at it... why don't you make some substantial point on the "born in kenya" thread instead of just lying?
Why would I continue to post in a thread based on lies and distortions?
"Remember to always be yourself. Unless you can be batman. Then always be batman." Unknown
Something the Dog Said wrote: any bets on when LGT will ever post a substantial post rather than spin and deflect?
I learned from the Master... Lady Jazzer. Hey... while you're at it... why don't you make some substantial point on the "born in kenya" thread instead of just lying?
Why would I continue to post in a thread based on lies and distortions?
