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	Priest in Theft Case Pleads Not Guilty By Art Barnum Chicago Breaking News February 18, 2009 http://www.chicagobreakingnews.com/2009/02/priest-in-theft-case-pleads-not-guilty.html A Roman Catholic priest accused of stealing more than $400,000 from the parishioners of a Roselle church pleaded not guilty today to 21 counts of financial crimes that carry a maximum prison sentence of 30 years. Rev. John Regan, 45, pastor of St. Walter Catholic Church from 2006 to 2008, is expected to be released from the DuPage County Jail after a judge reduced his bail to $100,000 from $1 million. Regan, who had been in treatment for several months at a church-approved addiction treatment center for gambling in Philadelphia, will live at the rectory of Holy Family Catholic Church, Shorewood, the church's pastor, Rev. William Dewan, told Judge John Kinsella. John Donahue, defense attorney, told Kinsella that neither Regan's legal fees nor the necessary bond money of $10,000 cash will come from the Joliet diocese or any church group, but from Regan's family. Kinsella, who publicly stated that he was a practicing Catholic who had contributed funds to the diocese in the past, denied Donahue's request that Regan be allowed to return to the out-of-state counseling center. Kinsella ordered that Regan's passport be turned in and that, if released, he make daily contact with investigators. Dewan, who said he represented the Joliet diocese, also told Kinsella that Regan "would have no access to any church finances" when living in Shorewood. Assistant DuPage County State's Attorney Helen Kapas Erdman opposed the reduction of the original $1 million bail, based on the large amount of alleged theft, which she said was used to fuel his gambling addiction, mostly at a Joliet riverboat. She said that within weeks of being assigned to the Roselle parish, he set up a "special needs" account with only himself as the signatory, which he used to transfer money to personal accounts. Regan returned to Illinois from the treatment center on Feb. 9 after he was indicted. Donahue told Kinsella that he was already in negotiation with prosecutors seeking to a possible plea agreement. Regan posted his $10,000 cash bond early this afternoon and released from the DuPage County Jail. His next court date is March 18.
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