Relations between two of Pennsylvania’s most commanding political families reached critical mass Wednesday with a raft of criminal charges against state Sen. Jane Orie and a retort likening the family of District Attorney Stephen Zappala Jr. to the “Mafia.”
Hostilities broke out after Mr. Zappala, acting on a grand jury’s report, laid political corruption charges against Ms. Orie, as well as her sister Janine, saying the pair conspired to use state resources to help the campaign of a third Orie sister, state Supreme Court Justice Joan Orie Melvin.
In reply, a fourth Orie, brother Jack, declared that Mr. Zappala “has a lack of morals, a lack of ethics and he’s stupid.” Mr. Orie said Mr. Zappala’s father, former state Supreme Court Justice Stephen Zappala Sr., is a puppet of the casino crowd.
Reading from a statement, Jack Orie invoked the term “Mafia hit” against the unmistakably Italian Zappalas.
“This is a city that has political families in it, and when we say political families it means everybody’s involved. But I can’t remember anything like this, anything this high-profile, anyway,” said longtime political consultant Bill Green. “This is serious stuff.”
Prosecutors unveiled a 66-page grand jury presentment that struck at the heart of the Orie political machine. They accused Jane Orie of turning her McCandless legislative office into a political operation for her sister Joan’s Supreme Court campaigns.
The presentment ended with a pointed note that it was passing the question of further charges to a new grand jury. Justice Melvin was not charged Wednesday, but her sister Janine Orie served as her longtime aide and the latter faces two criminal counts, including conspiracy.
The Orie defense strategy was laid out four months ago when the senator’s attorney at the time, Jerry McDevitt, publicly denounced the investigation as a political jihad by the Zappala clan. He framed it as a son of the powerful family protecting his father’s interests in the state’s casino industry because the former Supreme Court justice held office in an industry group.
The district attorney dismissed the attack as a diversionary tactic but otherwise remained silent.
Wednesday, that silence was tested as Jack Orie, filling in as attorney for his sisters until they lined up new representation after Mr. McDevitt’s departure, laced into the Zappala family.
“The actions by the district attorney, I think, have all the elements of a Mafia hit. It’s a political hit, but it’s like the Mafia trying to kill their opponent,” Mr. Orie said.
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