By Susan Shultz
Darien Times
June 24, 2008
http://www.acorn-online.com/joomla15/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=3693:fays -fourth-request-to-delay-prison-is-denied&catid=1:darien-local-news&Itemid=57
In early May, Judge Janet Bond Arterton set former St. John's pastor Michael Jude Fay's prison reporting date for July 8.
After several delays since his original sentencing at the end of last year, the judge set the date for July saying that it would be plenty of time to get the court copies of medical records for Fay, who is suffering from prostate cancer. Plenty of time for the bureau of prisons to review the protocol for the experimental treatment Fay is receiving. Plenty of time for a decision to finally be made as to whether or not that treatment could be administered and Fay could finally start serving his sentence for a crime he committed over two years ago.
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| The Rev. Michael Jude Fay leaving New Haven federal court in December. (Darien Times/Ralph Petitti Photo by Ralph Petitti |
But she was wrong.
On Thursday, Fay's lawyer, Lawrence Hopkins, filed a short motion to extend his client's reporting date for another six months, "because nothing has changed since the hearing date of May 6, 2008." This is the fourth time Fay has requested an extension since his original sentencing.
Further, Hopkins states: "The Bureau of Prisons cannot administer this experimental drug."
Arterton disagreed, and on Tuesday, she denied the extension order, "in the absence of any medical testing update, any medical rationale for the six months extension requested, and any record reflecting that the Bureau of Prisons cannot administer this experimental drug."
On Friday, the U.S. Attorney's office responded, saying that the information regarding the drug had not been received by the bureau of prisons. Not only that, but the confidentiality agreement from the pharmaceutical supplier in order to get the information had not been received until June 12, six weeks after the hearing.
"Therefore, the BOP has not been given an opportunity to review the drug protocol as a BOP official explained was necessary at the May 6, 2008 hearing," the U.S. Attorney's response stated.
"To suggest as Fay does that 'nothing has changed since the hearing date of May 6, 2008' and that the 'Bureau of Prisons cannot administer this experimental drug' is not only inaccurate, it is disingenuous," the response continued.
The U.S. Attorney recommends that rather than extend Fay's prison date, he should be ordered to turn over the drug protocol information and medical records.
"It makes no sense to further delay a surrender date for six months merely because a defendant's medical providers are in no hurry to abide by the court's previous directive" the motion states.
Fay, the former pastor of St. John Roman Catholic Church, pleaded guilty last year to stealing more than $1 million from the church. Federal Judge Janet Bond Arterton granted Fay an extension until July 8 to report to prison. When he was originally sentenced to 37 months in prison, Fay was given until April to begin his sentence, following a postponement by the judge in order to begin his experimental treatment. The judge agreed to a second extension until May 19. Tuesday was the first time he had to appear in court to get yet another extension.
Fay's attorney, Lawrence Hopkins, previously said Fay would die in prison if he does not continue the experimental treatment for his prostate cancer. His medical records were turned over to the judge after the last request for an extension.
Fay was sentenced in December to 37 months in federal prison for stealing parishioners' money while serving as pastor of St. John's.
Fay 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.
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, who both left the parish in 2006 - also discovered that Fay was in a romantic relationship with another man. 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.
He is required to surrender on July 8 at noon to Butner Federal Correctional Complex in Butner, N.C., where he would be serving his jail time.
Contact: sshultz@darientimes.com
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