By Rodney J. Jaleco
ABS-CBN
October 29, 2007
http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/storypage.aspx?StoryId=97413
RICHMOND, Virginia - He was a picture of contrition, a man of the cloth who has admitted his sins and now wants to make amends, hoping to lighten the punishment.
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| US District Court of Eastern Virginia in Richmond, Virginia |
Fr. Rodney Rodis, 51 and frail-looking, pleaded guilty to one count each of mail fraud and money laundering that together, could mean as much as 40 years in jail. Under a plea agreement, the disgraced parish priest agreed to pay $400,000 in restitution to the Catholic Diocese of Richmond in exchange for reducing charges from the original 10 counts – where he faces up to 200 years in jail – to only two.
Prosecutors say Rodis, a native of Cagayan de Oro City, diverted anywhere from $515,000 to $700,000 in donations to the St. Jude and Immaculate Conception church parishes in Louisa County, Virginia, about a hundred miles from Washington DC.
The case was transferred from Louisa County to the federal courts to make it easier to recover the stolen money overseas.
Prosecutors say Rodis diverted donations from 2002 to 2006 to a bank account he opened in his name in nearby Fredericksburg. He reportedly used the money to support his wife and three biological children, who lived in a split-level brick home in Spotsylvania, about 50 miles from Richmond.
He reportedly sent part of the money through the Philippine National Bank to relatives back home, and to a business called Lucky Money in Virginia Beach.
"I've gone through a range of emotions," said St. Jude parishioner William Hynes.
"It started with disbelief and a strong sense of betrayal once the facts became known. Then it turned to anger, then you could say it turned to resolve to what was happening and just want justice done," he told reporters outside the US District Court of Eastern Virginia.
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| Local TV crews brave the rain to interview former parishioners as they step out the court house. |
Rodis was dwarfed by burly US Marshals as he was led inside the sala of Senior District Court Judge Richard Williams, his arms and legs manacled which made walking with his cane difficult. He wore a white thermal shirt under the white-and-striped-gray prisoner's uniform. Seated behind him in the gallery were about a dozen of his former parishioners in Mineral town.
The priest suffered a stroke and sustained injuries in a car accident early last year.
"I felt a little remorse for him, but not a lot. I think justice is being done and that's the important thing," Hynes would tell reporters after the hearing.
With his court-appointed lawyer, Rodis was asked repeatedly by Judge Williams if he understood the implications of the plea agreement. Rodis, who said he has a masteral degree, acknowledged the agreement without emotion.
The magistrate said Rodis' guilty plea offered "a light at the end of the tunnel" for the priest as he assured that the "United States will hold its end of the agreement." Rodis would be referred to a probation officer prior to sentencing on February 21.
Rodis deliberately avoided making eye contact with his former parishioners as he walked back to his seat, nearly tripping on the chains on his feet. He was quickly led out by marshals but not before Judge Williams offered to facilitate visits by his friends and relatives at the Northern Neck Regional Jail in Warsaw, Virginia. Rodis had reportedly declined to post bail.
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| William Etherington, counsel for the Catholic Diocese of Richmond, talks with Rodis' former parishioners about the implications of the guilty plea agreement. |
William Etherington, counsel for the Richmond Diocese, told ABS-CBN News that there are no indications that Rodis was married in the US, raising the possibility that if allegations of his marital status are true, he may have married in the Philippines. He said the Diocese is talking with counterparts in Mindanao to gather more information about Rodis.
Rodis is reportedly married to a Joyce Sillador, a registered nurse. The money he sent back to the Philippines was reportedly used to buy real estate and other properties. The Diocese has sought the help of the Federal Bureau of Investigation and Secret Service, which became involved because Rodis is charged with money laundering and mail fraud.
"Obviously they have people over there and the Diocese does not, so yes that the sort of stuff that the FBI and Secret Service people will be looking into," Etherington explained, referring to Rodis' alleged properties in the Philippines.
He said he hopes the process will allow the Diocese much of the stolen money. He also conceded that Rodis will also have to reckon with the Catholic Church.
Rodis was ordained in the order of St. Camillus in 1986. Reports suggest he first settled in the Virginia Beach area after he entered the US in the early 90s, reportedly on an immigrant visa. He is credited with reviving the dwindling congregations at the St. Jude and Immaculate Conception parishes after he first arrived there as a substitute priest in 1993.
Rodis may be trying to make reparations with the State and the parishioners he once served, but Etherington points out that only the Vatican can say how a priest can make amends for his sins against God.
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