A federal judge today granted a change of venue in the insurance fraud trial of a former Superior Court judge.

Michael T. Joyce, who was indicted in August, filed the motion asking for the case to be tried in Pittsburgh instead of Erie because of extensive pre-trial publicity.

In an eight-page opinion, Senior U.S. District Judge Maurice B. Cohill, who works in both locations, granted the request, saying that:

"The relatively minor inconvenience to witnesses is outweighed by the overwhelming adverse publicity in the Erie Division that will no doubt continue."

In making his decision, he noted that much of the media coverage in Erie has placed the former judge in a negative light, and that one of the insurance companies involved in the case, Erie Insurance Group, employs 2,450 people at an office within sight of the Erie Federal Courthouse.

The Erie division is part of the Western District of Pennsylvania, headquartered in Pittsburgh. There is also a Johnstown division.

Mr. Joyce, who chose not to run for retention after the indictment, is charged with nine separate counts of mail fraud and money laundering stemming from two insurance claims he filed after a low-speed accident in 2001.

He received $440,000 in claims filed for what he called "constant neck and back pain, excruciating headaches, serious discomfort and difficulty sleeping" suffered when his new Mercedes-Benz was rear-ended at a speed estimated at 5 mph.

He said he was unable to golf, scuba dive or exercise because of the injuries.

The U.S. Attorney's Office, however, said Mr. Joyce used that money to buy a motorcycle, pay for golf in Florida, New York and Jamaica, scuba dive in Jamaica, inline skate and earn a pilot's license.

The government objected to the change of venue.