Court Roundup

PENNSYLVANIA
4th Philly-area teen sentenced in woman’s beating
MEDIA, Pa. (AP) — A fourth teenage girl has been sentenced to prison in the videotaped beating of a mentally disabled woman as she sat on her stoop in a city outside Philadelphia.
Investigators say the six teens punched and kicked the 48-year-old Chester woman and hit her with a shoe and a chair in September, apparently for fun. One recorded the beating, which was posted online.
The Delaware County Daily Times reports 16-year-old Janyea Bell pleaded guilty to charges of conspiracy to commit aggravated assault and conspiracy to recklessly endanger another person. She’s sentenced to 6 to 23 months in prison.
Bell apologized to the victim’s family in court Tuesday. Two other juveniles and a 19-year-old woman have also been sentenced to prison in the case.
The remaining defendants are seeking to have their cases moved to juvenile court.

PENNSYLVANIA
Supreme court justice, sister to be sentenced
PITTSBURGH (AP) — Suspended state Supreme Court Justice Joan Orie Melvin and her sister have been scheduled to be sentenced May 7 for their conviction earlier this month on campaign corruption charges.
Melvin and Janine Orie were convicted of theft of services and other crimes for misusing the justice’s former superior court staff and the state-paid staff of a third sister, Sen. Jane Orie, to do political campaign work.
The sentencing date was announced Thursday.
That happened when Melvin ran unsuccessfully for the Supreme Court in 2003 and again in 2009 when she won a seat on the state’s highest court.
The sisters are expected to appeal that conviction but court rules prevent that from happening until they’ve been sentenced.

MARYLAND
Man pleads guilty to exporting night vision equipment
BALTIMORE (AP) — Prosecutors say a Florida man illegally exported military night vision equipment he sold online.
The U.S. Attorney’s office in Baltimore says 34-year-old Anthony J. Torresi of Coral Gables, Fla., pleaded guilty Wednesday in U.S. District Court to violating federal export laws. Torresi faces up to 20 years in prison, five years of supervised release and a $1 million fine for unlawful export of arms and munitions. He is scheduled to be sentenced June 21.