Allegheny County District Attorney Stephen Zappala Jr. says a cover-up involving forged documents likely led a judge to sentence former Republican state Sen. Jane Orie to state prison instead of a lesser sentence.
 
Zappala initially declined comment on Orie's 2 1/2- to 10-year sentence handed down Monday, but told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette for a story Wednesday that Orie perpetrated a fraud on the court when she introduced forged documents at a mistrial on campaign corruption charges last year.
 
Zappala also denies Orie's claims that he prosecuted her because she opposed a casino backed by the prosecutor's uncle and criticized a gambling group in which his father is a member. A Zappala spokesman says the last time the DA remembers speaking to Orie was when she asked him years ago to give her brother a raise, which was granted.