To some people, most politicians in Harrisburg (and Washington, D.C.) are self-serving and greedy, if not corrupt. So when a jury in Pittsburgh found state Sen. Jane Orie guilty Monday on 14 counts of theft of services, ethics violations and conflicts of interest, it was more evidence that Harrisburg is corrupt.

To others, however, the verdict was disturbing because Orie was seen by many as “one of the good ones” in the General Assembly. She had a reputation for being hard working, accessible and responsive to her constituents.

One person from a community near Pittsburgh, writing to the Butler Eagle Tuesday morning, said he knew Orie to be responsive and dedicated. He also gave her credit for refusing to accept her pay hike from the notorious 2 a.m. pay-raise vote of 2005 that was eventually reversed due to voter outrage. He also said Orie was one of just eight state senators to vote against the greedy and budget-busting 2001 pension grab in which state lawmakers boosted their own pensions by 50 percent and also raised pensions for most state workers, including public school teachers, by 25 percent.

He concluded by saying that he respected the jury’s verdict, but he was convinced that “if Jane Orie is a criminal,” then “the General Assembly is brimming with criminals.”

Earlier trials, and convictions, of former state Sen. Vincent Fumo, former Rep. Mike Veon, current state Rep. Bill DeWeese and others suggest these practices are pervasive among the upper ranks of state lawmakers.

Orie, like a number of other prominent state lawmakers, was accused of using her staff and other state-owned, taxpayer-funded resources for re-election and fundraising efforts.

The Allegheny County jury, which deliberated for 50 hours over five days, found Orie not guilty on 10 of the 24 charges. Five of the counts Orie was convicted of are felonies, so she could face prison time, as well as lose her seat in the Legislature and her state pension.

As the letter writer speculated, if Orie is guilty of this sort of corruption — using state resources for her own political benefit — then there must be many more in Harrisburg who should be indicted and charged with similar, and possibly more serious, crimes.

It could be the culture of entitlement in Harrisburg where most lawmakers see their elected positions as jobs for life, offering good pay and extraordinary benefits, including a generous pension and essentially free health care for life.

Were the pay and generous perks the motivation for skirting the law and using state-paid staffers for campaign work? Or has the culture that tolerated this behavior been in place for so long that many state lawmakers saw it as not a crime, but simply how things were done in Harrisburg?

The Bonusgate scandal netted Veon and a dozen or so staffers who were awarded state-paid bonuses for campaign work which should have been paid for with campaign funds.

Soon after being charged in Bonusgate, Veon claimed that the practice of using state-paid people and state resources to win re-election was common practice in Harrisburg. At the time, that seemed like a stretch. Now, it raises questions about how pervasive the practice is across the Legislature.

One solution to really change the culture would be to offer blanket immunity to all legislative staffers from both parties in the House and Senate. Bring them before a grand jury and get behind-the-scenes details on how Harrisburg works and how entrenched lawmakers game the system to remain in office.

It would never happen, but people are fed up with self-serving politicians. The Orie case is only the latest confirmation of most voters’ worst fears about politicians.

Given the slew of Harrisburg corruption cases, voters should consider another anti-incumbent movement similar to what brought many new faces to Harrisburg following the 2005 pay-raise scandal. That period brought some change and lip-service about reform, but it was clearly not enough.