Orie: $180K, not $2M, in restitution

From Paula Reed Ward at the main site:

Former state Sen. Jane Orie will forfeit part of her pension to pay down more than $180,000 in restitution, damages and reimbursement she was ordered to pay today by an Allegheny County Common Pleas judge.

That is far less than the $2 million prosecutors had sought after her conviction on public corruption charges.

In a 14-page opinion, Judge Jeffrey A. Manning, who presided over the McCandless Republican's trial in March, said Orie must pay $23,269.74 in restitution, as well as damages of $46,537.48.

In addition, Judge Manning ordered Orie to pay back to the Senate Republican Caucus $110,650 it spent for the cost of outside counsel during the criminal investigation.

To facilitate those payments, the court said Orie must forfeit $89,670.18 in her state pension.

Orie was sentenced to prison for 2-1/2 to 10 years after being found guilty of 14 counts, including five felonies.

She was accused of using her legislative staff to run election campaigns for herself and her sister, state Supreme Court Justice Joan Orie Melvin, who faces a preliminary hearing on similar charges next week.