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	W.Va. Priest Facing Drug Charge Herald-Dispatch September 29, 2008 http://www.herald-dispatch.com/news/briefs/x1464130365/W-Va-priest-facing-drug-charge SOUTH CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) - A South Charleston priest and a member of his congregation who is also a former drug counselor have both been charged with felony possession of marijuana with intent to deliver. The Rev. James Edward O'Connor, 58, is the priest at Blessed Sacrament. He and a passenger in his vehicle, Michael Joseph Deegan, 59, were charged Monday morning, according to Kanawha County Magistrate Court records. South Charleston Patrolman S.W. Miller was following O'Connor's car and could smell a strong odor of marijuana coming from it, the officer wrote in the criminal complaints. A search of the vehicle turned up at least 73 grams of the drug, the complaints said. O'Connor was transferred to Blessed Sacrament in 2006. He previously served for 15 years at St. Mary's Catholic Church in Madison and St. Joseph's Catholic Church in Whitesville. He is also a former chaplain of Marshall University's Newman Center. Deegan is a former a clinical coordinator for SouthWay Alcohol and Drug Treatment Center at Thomas Memorial Hospital. He also served as the president of the West Virginia Association of Alcoholism and Drug Abuse Counselors. O'Connor didn't immediately return a call seeking comment. Deegan told The Associated Press on Monday that he had made a bad decision. "I feel bad, I feel like I made a mistake," he said. "It's just a difficult time right now ... I'm just trying to deal with it, with my family, and trying to just get, just see what I need to do." A call to the Diocese of Wheeling-Charleston for comment on Monday wasn't immediately returned.
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