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	Ex-Priest Negotiates Plea Cleveland Plain Dealer [Ohio] January 18, 2007 http://www.cleveland.com/news/plaindealer/index.ssf?/base/news/1169113520160940.xml&coll=2 A former priest accepted a plea deal Wednesday that gave him no jail time after he admitted stealing almost $20,000 from the church to pay hush money to a woman he had sex with. The Rev. Thomas Carolan, 75, was the pastor at now-closed St. Jude Catholic Church in Warrensville Heights from 1990 until last year, when he resigned amid scandal. His misdeeds surfaced after he told police he suspected two women of stealing and cashing checks from the parish. Investigators subsequently learned he had an affair with one of the women and she, her sister and another accomplice had blackmailed the priest. Carolan pleaded guilty to attempted theft; Judge Eileen A. Gallagher suspended a six-month jail term and ordered him to repay the missing $19,694 in church funds. Carolan has already done that with help of "many supporters" and now lives in Illinois, said his attorney, Ian Friedman. The women - Elaine Presser, 48, of Mayfield and Rosemarie Kovacic, 46, of Mayfield Heights - pleaded guilty to theft charges in September and were sentenced to house arrest and probation.
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