State senator, sister charged with conspiracy

PITTSBURGH - The Allegheny County District Attorney's Office on Wednesday filed criminal charges against State Sen. Jane Orie (R., Allegheny) and her sister Janine, an aide to their sister state Supreme Court Justice Joan Orie Melvin, in a grand jury investigation that reached into one of Western Pennsylvania's most powerful political families.

The charges were recommended in a 66-page grand jury presentment that alleges, among other things, that Jane and Janine Orie participated in a scheme to use the senator's state office and employees to assist their sister in her successful 2009 bid for the court.

In a letter sent Wednesday to Senate Republican leaders, Jane Orie said she was temporarily stepping down as Senate GOP whip, the No. 3 post, "pending exoneration." She called the charges baseless.

According to the grand jury, at least 15 current or former staff members for Jane Orie testified that they either participated in or observed nonlegislative work being conducted during business hours. The directive to do political and campaign work, the presentment said, came from the senator, her chief of staff, Jamie Pavlot, and Janine Orie.

The sisters arrived well ahead of schedule for arraignment, accompanied by family, including Melvin - who was not charged - and her two daughters; sister Judith, a cardiologist; and brother Jack, who represented the sisters at the arraignment.

Leaving the arraignment, Jack Orie read a statement in which he likened the charges brought by District Attorney Stephen A. Zappala Jr. to a "Mafia hit."

He acknowledged that Orie's legislative staff did campaign work "now and then," but said none of the Orie sisters "made any money off it." Jack Orie said that unless Zappala can prove otherwise, there was no crime.

"There is some type of overlap between political and legislative duties in every [elective] office in Pennsylvania," Jack Orie said. "It's just the nature of the beast."

The grand jury determined that Jane Orie and Melvin did benefit monetarily. Based on estimates, some Orie staffers spent at least 20 percent of their time on campaign work, a value estimated at $37,000 to $74,000, the grand jury said.

Jane Orie spoke briefly. "I know the threat I am to the Zappala family. This is about gambling. This is so personal by Steve Zappala, he can't control himself." She accused Zappala of intimidating her staff to "make them say things that are untrue."

The senator has suggested that she has been targeted for prosecution because of her opposition to expanded casino gambling in Pennsylvania. Zappala's father, former state Supreme Court Justice Stephen A. Zappala Sr., has served as an official with a group representing the casino industry.

"It's all a political thing. It's all about the Zappalas," Jane Orie told a supporter who met her on the way out of court.

Lawrence Claus, the chief deputy district attorney who oversaw the six-month investigation, attended the hearing but declined to comment. Mike Manko, a spokesman for the office, said, "District Attorney Zappala is disappointed but not surprised at the comments made following today's arraignment."

In her letter to Republican leaders, Jane Orie said she looked forward "to resuming the duties as whip once the charges are dispatched."

"I am confident that I will be exonerated despite what will continue to be the obsessive and vendetta-drawn efforts of Mr. Zappala and those beholden to him," she said in a letter to Senate President Pro Tem Joe Scarnati (R., Jefferson) and Majority Leader Dominic Pileggi (R., Delaware).

In a statement, Scarnati and Pileggi said, "We are fully confident she will be exonerated."

Actual charges against both Jane Orie, 48, and Janine Orie, 55, include theft of services, tampering with or fabricating physical evidence, criminal conspiracy, and violations of the state office and employee ethics act.

The Ories were released on their own recognizance and were scheduled for May 19 preliminary hearings.