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	Far North Side Priest Gets 4 Years for Theft By Karoun Demirjian Chicago Tribune July 20, 2007 http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/chi-070720sorvillojul20,0,6601863.story?coll=chi-travel-utl A Roman Catholic priest accused of stealing tens of thousands of dollars from his Far North Side parish accepted a plea deal today that is sending him to prison for 4 years. At a time when St. Margaret Mary parish was struggling to keep the doors of its schools open, Rev. Mark Sorvillo was raiding the weekly collection basket so greedily that the 2005 Christmas collection was bare, prosecutors had said. Sorvillo, a Catholic priest for 28 years, also raided donations from baptisms and weddings, stealing more than $190,000 during the course of his nearly eight years as pastor of the North Side parish, according to the charges against him. Using secret money market accounts and credit cards issued to the parish, Sorvillo financed trips to Europe, purchased pricey meals and bought tickets to Notre Dame football games and to the Lyric Opera. He also wrote more than $30,000 worth of checks to himself to finance his lavish lifestyle, which included a summer cottage and trips to Neiman Marcus, Saks Fifth Avenue and Marshall Field's, prosecutors said. He had been charged with felony theft of more than $100,000 and faced up to 30 years in prison. To catch him, parish and archdiocesan officials set up a "sting-type operation" using sealed and numbered donation bags to collect church offerings. After more than four weeks, officials discovered that collection money had been pilfered, prosecutors said. Sorvillo was confronted Feb. 14, 2006 with the theft and resigned. Archdiocese officials said Sorvillo, who was stripped of his ability to say mass, has been living in the rectory of St. Joachim Church on the South Side. Rev. Jim Barrett was installed as pastor of St. Margaret Mary parish a year ago. Contact: kdemirjian@tribune.com
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