Court Upholds Ex-Pennsylvania Judge’s Insurance Fraud Conviction

A federal appeals court has upheld the insurance fraud conviction and 46-month prison sentence of a retired Pennsylvania Superior Court judge.

A three-judge panel from the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals found that a jury could reasonably infer that Michael Joyce meant to defraud Erie Insurance because of his “numerous exaggerations and misstatements” about neck and back injuries he suffered in an August 2001 fender bender.

Joyce was convicted of mail fraud and money laundering in late 2008 and sentenced in March 2009 for collecting $440,000 in the low-speed accident in which he was rear-ended.

The 61-year-old judge has been serving his sentence during the appeal.