ALLEGHENY COUNTY

The student said she addressed election materials to fulfill a sentence for underage drinking.
PITTSBURGH (AP) -- A university student said she worked on an attorney's political campaign to satisfy her court-ordered community service sentence for underage drinking.
Duquesne University student Lindsay Hess, 19, of St. Henry, Ohio, said she and other students addressed election materials for attorney Reginald Bridges, one of eight candidates for a district judge post in the Sewickley area, about 10 miles northwest of Pittsburgh.
Hess and the other students were cited for underage drinking Feb. 11 and were ordered to serve 75 hours of community service as punishment.
"I didn't think it was too big a deal. I just wanted to get everything complete," Hess said.
Collaboration
For three years, Bridges has supervised defendants sentenced to community service by Pittsburgh District Judge Oscar Petite, the same district judge who handled Hess' underage drinking case.
Usually, defendants satisfy their community service sentence by pulling weeds at a community center or tutoring children. Ideally, the defendants serve the needs of the community at large, Petite said.
If the students' accusations are true, Petite said he would prefer to see them doing other work to fulfill their community service requirement.
"I would rather these students be put to work giving back to the community," Petite said.
Bridges, who is vying for the Democratic nomination during Tuesday's primary election, denied any wrongdoing.
"It's lies. None of the kids under my supervision worked on my campaign, except those that did so voluntarily," Bridges said Friday.