Pa. judge facing insurance fraud charges won’t run

Suspended Pennsylvania Superior Court Judge Michael T. Joyce pleaded not guilty to federal charges of mail fraud and money laundering and withdrew his name from the ballot for re-election. His decision to retire came after a grand jury indicted him for allegedly bilking two insurance companies out of $440,000. He continues to receive his state salary of $165,342 a year plus benefits.

The developments left leaders of Pennsylvania’s Republican and Democratic parties scrambling to nominate candidates to compete for Joyce’s seat in the November election. He was one of eight appellate judges seeking voter approval for an additional 10-year term in a yes-or-no “retention” vote.

Joyce, 58, a Republican who was elected to the state appellate bench in 1997, vowed to mount “a vigorous legal defense” against the criminal charges.

Joyce did not attend the initial court hearing in Erie, but his lawyer, David Ridge, entered the plea before Chief U.S. Magistrate Judge Susan Paradise Baxter.

The criminal case against Joyce stems from an August 2001 traffic accident that he said left him in such pain that he was unable to exercise or play golf for more than a year. Prosecutors say the judge’s car was rear-ended by another vehicle at about 5 mph, and that he faked his injuries to cash in on the insurance money.

The indictment says Joyce was playing 18-hole rounds on courses as far away as Jamaica, going scuba diving and inline skating, and working out at a local gym. He used the insurance money to buy a motorcycle and make down payments on a house and plane, it said.

The mail fraud charges are the most serious, each carrying a maximum prison term of 20 years.

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