Joan Orie Melvin, a former state Supreme Court Justice, was sentenced Tuesday to house arrest and community service in soup kitchen, as well as ordered to send handwritten apologies for her crimes on photographs of herself in handcuffs in the state, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reported on Wednesday. Melvin was sentenced to three years of house arrest, followed with two year on probation.
Melvin, 56-years old, was found guilty of conspiracy, theft of services and misapplication of government funds. She resigned in March.
Allegheny County Court Judge Nauhaus' sentence also included $55,000 in fines, a prohibition on using the title of 'justice,' as well as handwritten apologies to her former staffers.
"I don't believe that Joan Melvin is an evil person, but I do believe that her arrogance is stunning," Nauhaus said.
"We're talking about perversion of a court office," prosecutor Lawrence Claus said. "We're talking about perversion of staff."
"I'm sorry for the loss, pain, and suffering you have endured for the last five years," Melvin said, while looking at her children in the gallery.
Her legal career involved serving as a corporate counsel and was engaged in a private law practice, concentrating in civil litigation. She was appointed to the Pittsburgh Municipal Court as Magistrate Judge in 1985 and Chief Magistrate Judge in 1987. There, she established Pennsylvania's first Domestic Violence Court.
She also was the judge of the Court of Common Pleas of Allegheny County.
In 2009, she had won a 10-year term in the Pennsylvania Supreme Court.
