Allegations of impropriety

Authorities seized thousands of computer records from one of Orie's district offices in mid-December 2009, as part of an investigation conducted by Allegheny County District Attorney Stephen Zappala. Zappala would not disclose to the public a reason for investigating Orie.

A story in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette alleged that the core of the investigation involves the employment of one of her district offices for campaign purposes.^[10]

The Post-Gazette subsequently reported that a University of Pittsburgh student intern had told prosecutors of widespread political campaigning inside the office on behalf of Orie's sister, State Supreme Court Justice Joan Orie Melvin. The story also revealed that Orie's chief of staff had begun cooperating with investigators.^[11] Justice Melvin was indicted and convicted on charges of misusing publicly funded staff for political work on her two Supreme Court races.^[12]

Criminal prosecution and conviction

In April 2010, an Allegheny County grand jury indicted Jane Orie and her sister Janine Orie on multiple charges of corruption. Pending a preliminary hearing scheduled for May 19, both defendants were released on their own recognizance, but they were prohibited from having non-business contacts with any of the witnesses in the case. Under Senate rules, a member who is charged with an offense related to his or her official duties must vacate any leadership position. Accordingly, following her indictment, Orie resigned as majority whip.^[13]

A trial date of February 7, 2011 was set for the criminal trial of Orie and her sister Janine. However, while jury deliberations were underway, Judge Jeffrey Manning declared a mistrial for both the Senator and her sister upon learning that evidence submitted by the defense had been doctored. The signature of former Orie aide Jamie Pavlot, a key prosecution witness, appeared to have been cut-and-pasted from one document to another. Manning suspended the jury deliberations, declaring that the copying was so blatant that "Ray Charles could see that signature was doctored." Hours later, he declared a mistrial and dismissed the jury, saying that "a fraud had been perpetrated" on the court.^[14] A new trial date was set for April 11, although Orie's lawyer announced his intent to appeal the decision on the grounds that a new trial would constitute a violation of Orie's right to avoid double jeopardy.^[15]

In March 2012, Orie was convicted of 14 counts of forgery, conflict of interest and theft of services, which included five felonies.^[16] Like most states, Pennsylvania has a provision in its constitution barring convicted felons from holding office. Accordingly, Orie resigned from the State Senate on May 21, 2012.^[17]

A special election occurred on August 7, 2012, to replace her;^[18] the Republican nominee in the race was State Representative Randy Vulakovich, while Democratic nominee was Sharon Brown, a health care consultant.^[19] Vulakovich defeated Brown by a wide margin.^[20]

On June 5, 2012, Orie was sentenced to two-and-a-half to ten years in prison. In sentencing her, Manning said that Orie had engaged in crimes that "demean the sanctity of all we do as lawyers." He was particularly angered by Orie's submission of fraudulent documents, calling it a "flagrant and disgraceful violation" of her oath as an attorney. Manning was so disgusted with Orie's behavior that he revoked her bail and remanded her to custody immediately rather than allow her to self-report.^[21] She was incarcerated at the Cambridge Springs State Correctional Institution in Crawford County, where she was Inmate Number OS9360.^[22]

On February 9, 2014, Orie was released from prison, after serving the minimum sentence of two-and-a-half years.^[2]