By Susan Shultz
Darien Times
December 4, 2007
http://www.acorn-online.com/news/publish/darien/26015.shtml
NEW HAVEN — No one is above the law, and a collar won't keep you out of prison.
That's what U.S. District Judge Janet Bond Arterton told Michael Jude Fay, the former pastor of Darien's St. John Roman Catholic Parish.
Arterton's lessons came just before sentencing Fay to 37 months in federal prison today for stealing parishioners' money for his own use. And he was ordered to pay restitution of $1,027,989.
The sentence was handed down in New Haven federal court. Fay, 56, pleaded guilty in September to one count of interstate transportation of money obtained by fraud. He was facing up to 10 years in prison and up to $250,000 in fines.
Fay, who was wearing a sling and is suffering from terminal prostate cancer, begged the judge for mercy. He also said that he has been unable to apologize to his parish until now.
"I wrote a letter to you a year and a half ago but it was not allowed to be published," he said.
Fay said he took full accountability of his actions, and indicated he did not trust the right people, and was "sorry I didn't realize the affect my medical drugs would have on me."
Fay's attorney, Lawrence Hopkins, unsuccessfully argued that Fay should be spared prison because of his cancer and his previous good works, such as counseling the bereaved and dying. Several people spoke on Fay's behalf, including his brother, his sister, two St. John's parishioners and a friend.
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| Father Fay walks from the New Haven federal courthouse in September after pleading guilty to charges of using St. John Parish money for his personal use. Photo by Darien Times |
Fay's brother, Daniel Fay, became choked with emotion as he pled to have his brother spared from prison. A clinical psychologist from Memorial Sloan Kettering hospital said she had counseled Fay in dealing with his terminal prostate cancer. She said that the best outlook for Fay would be to be at home, as most patients in his condition improve when they are around family and familiar surroundings. Others said that putting Fay in prison would be denying the world his service to others.
Prosecutor Richard Schechter argued that Fay not only continued his fraud at St. John after his diagnosis, it actually got worse.
He also said that it was not an isolated act in an otherwise good life, it was a series of years of stealing from Fay's parishioners. Finally, he said that the good works cited were Fay's job, as a pastor, and said that there was no evidence that Fay had continued to serve others after his resignation in May 2006.
The former pastor won't have to report to prison until April 2 so he can have extra time to see if he is accepted to an experimental cancer treatment, and if so, receive the treatment.
Members of Voice of the Faithful, a group seeking accountability among church leaders, held protest signs outside the courtroom, saying "$1.4 million, extravagant or embezzlement?" and "Catholics, take back your church."
In May 2006, it was discovered that Fay had been using church money to support his lavish lifestyle, which included trips to Europe, the Caribbean and other parts of the United States. A private investigation — prompted by another church priest and its bookkeeper — also discovered that Fay was in a romantic relationship with a Philadelphia event planner, Cliff Fantini. Fay resigned shortly after the news broke.
An August 2006 independent audit commissioned by the Diocese of Bridgeport, reported that St. John Parish lost at least $1.4 million since 2000. Fay became church pastor in 1991.
"The Diocese of Bridgeport joins with St. John Parish in saying that this is a day of great sorrow for all concerned," the Bridgeport Diocese spokesman, Dr. Joseph McAleer, said. "We appreciate the efforts of the U.S. Attorney's Office and the court in bringing closure to this matter. We pray that Father Fay will find reconciliation with God and those he has harmed, and that the St. John Parish community will continue to heal under the leadership of its pastor, Father Frank McGrath. The Diocese will continue its concerted efforts on behalf of St. John Parish to achieve justice in the form of restitution."
Reported Tuesday 5:19 p.m.:
NEW HAVEN — Michael Jude Fay, the former pastor of Darien's St. John Roman Catholic Parish was sentenced to 37 months in federal prison today for stealing parishioners' money for his own use. And he was ordered to pay restitution of $1,027,989.
The sentence was handed down by U.S. District Judge Janet Bond Arterton in New Haven federal court. Fay, 56, pleaded guilty in September to one count of interstate transportation of money obtained by fraud. He was facing up to 10 years in prison and up to $250,000 in fines.
The former pastor won't have to report to prison until April 2 so he can have extra time to continue with an experimental medical treatment for his cancer.
In May 2006, it was discovered that Fay had been using church money to support his lavish lifestyle, which included trips to Europe, the Caribbean and other parts of the United States. A private investigation — prompted by another church priest and its bookkeeper — also discovered that Fay was in a romantic relationship with a Philadelphia event planner, Cliff Fantini. Fay resigned shortly after the news broke.
An August 2006 independent audit commissioned by the Diocese of Bridgeport, reported that St. John Parish lost at least $1.4 million since 2000. Fay became church pastor in 1991.
In September, Richard J. Schechter, who prosecuted the case, told the court that between 1991 and 2006, Fay solicited contributions for the church while assuring parishioners that the money would be used for the parish.
In 1999, Schechter said, Fay opened a bank account under the name Bridget Funds. Between 1999 and 2000, Fay deposited $230,000 into that account which he used for his personal use and to pay off credit cards.
Between 2000 and 2006, Schechter said, Fay opened another account at a Darien bank under the name Dombasco. He deposited $750,000 into this account, which he spent for personal use.
Schechter also said that Fay transferred an undisclosed amount of parish money into his own bank account.
Fay also admitted that, in March 2006, he instructed a parish employee to transfer $34,000 from a parish bank account in Connecticut to his personal bank account at a Wachovia Bank in Florida. The $34,000 represented funds that were needed to pay parish expenses, including salaries of employees, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office. Immediately after the $34,000 was transferred to Fay's personal account at Wachovia Bank, Fay admitted that he caused these funds to be transferred in interstate commerce to a company in Pennsylvania. The $34,000 represented part of a $39,558 down payment for the purchase by Fay of a Philadelphia condo.
W ith the guilty plea, Fay waved his right to appeal — unless he was sentenced to more than 57 months.
E-mail Darien Times reporter Susan Shultz at sshultz@darientimes.com
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