Joyce’s Wife Appeals Forfeiture of Pennsylvania Home

The wife of a former Pennsylvania Superior Court judge has appealed a federal judge’s order that the couple must forfeit their home because some money used to buy it came from a $440,000 insurance fraud for which her husband is serving 46 months in prison.

Senior U.S. District Judge Maurice Cohill Jr. last month agreed federal prosecutors in Pittsburgh could seize ex-judge Michael Joyce’s Erie-area home. Now the Erie Times-News says Joanne Joyce wants the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to reverse the forfeiture order, arguing she shouldn’t lost her stake in the $295,000 home for a crime she didn’t commit.

Michael Joyce was convicted in 2008 of defrauding two insurance companies by exaggerating injuries from a low-speed auto accident in August 2001. He was also required to forfeit some items he spent that money on, including the house.