By Rick Armon
Beacon Journal
October 5, 2010
http://www.ohio.com/news/top_stories/104325544.html
Court filing for priest from Akron requests sentence of house arrest instead of prison
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| The Rev. Samuel Ciccolini, the executive director of the Interval Brotherhood Home arrives at the Carl B. Stokes Federal Court House for the his arraignment Friday, July 23, 2010 Cleveland, Ohio. He plead guilty to one count of structuring to evade banking regulations and one count of filing a false tax return. He will be sentenced Oct. 8. (Karen Schiely/Akron Beacon Journal) |
The Rev. Samuel Ciccolini, a beloved Catholic priest who founded the Interval Brotherhood Home, stole money from the nonprofit group's foundation, his attorneys have admitted.
But Ciccolini, better known as ''Father Sam,'' has since repaid the money he took, attorneys Peter Cahoon and Gregory Plesich wrote in an 11-page brief filed last week in federal court in Cleveland.
The document says the soft-spoken, 68-year-old priest from Akron ''improperly transferred funds'' from the foundation to his personal accounts. It doesn't identify the amount involved.
Ciccolini stepped aside as executive director of IBH after he was charged earlier this year with federal income tax and bank-related crimes. He is scheduled to be sentenced Friday.
At the time he was charged, IBH officials said the case involved Ciccolini's personal finances and didn't involve the nonprofit group.
Ed Stanford, current executive director of IBH, and Tom Killian, president of the foundation, declined Monday to explain those previous misleading statements.
Cahoon and Plesich wrote: ''[Ciccolini] believes that he inappropriately transferred these funds based on an incorrect state of mind that it was his own goodwill which generated donation of construction materials and services to IBH and that this somehow justified his taking personal control of the savings . . . so he could personally control the disposition of these funds as he saw fit.
''Being always concerned about IBH and its funding, and wanting to have IBH grow and turn into an international facility, Sam wanted to be able to control how funds would be used.''
Ciccolini paid for an audit of foundation finances and has repaid money that he took, the document says.
In the court filing, Cahoon and Plesich also requested that federal Judge James Gwin sentence the priest to house arrest instead of prison.
Ciccolini pleaded guilty in July as part of a plea agreement with prosecutors that could bring a prison sentence of 18 to 24 months.
The court filing paints Ciccolini as a saintly figure whose career of helping others has been tainted only by his financial missteps.
Cahoon and Plesich said his impeccable background and cooperation with authorities should prevent him from going to federal prison. Instead, he should be placed under home confinement with work release and be allowed to continue serving the community, they said.
''His life has been dedicated to helping others, in selfless and tireless ways,'' Cahoon and Plesich wrote. ''Even now, Sam works a very high number of hours every day at IBH and his local parish. He gives of himself without complaint. This is his calling, and his vocation. There is nothing else he would rather do.''
Process takes toll
The document, which does not mention how long he should be under house arrest, also says Ciccolini ''has been embarrassed and publicly humiliated'' and ''this process has taken a mental and physical toll on him.''
Assistant U.S. Attorney Robert Bulford Jr. said federal prosecutors will seek an 18- to 24-month sentence as outlined in the plea deal. He declined further comment, saying he would file his own brief with the court in advance of the sentencing.
Ciccolini built an international reputation for his outreach and treatment of alcoholics and drug addicts at the Interval Brotherhood Home, located on a sprawling campus in Coventry Township. He founded the facility on Oct. 7, 1970, in an abandoned Carmelite monastery and served as its executive director until he was charged.
Many view him as a beloved community servant and were shocked by the charges and the revelations about his personal wealth.
Ciccolini has pleaded guilty to one count of structuring financial transactions to evade reporting requirements and one count of making and subscribing a false tax return.
He deposited more than $1 million in bank branches in the Akron area from April to June 2003 by making 139 cash transactions, federal authorities say.
Banks are required to report deposits of more than $10,000 to federal authorities under the Bank Secrecy Act, which is designed to catch money laundering. Ciccolini deposited lower amounts to avoid the reporting requirement.
Explanation for actions
In the court filing, Cahoon and Plesich tried to provide an explanation for the priest's financial crimes.
''Sam did not want to have to explain to the Internal Revenue Service or anyone else where the cash came from,'' Cahoon and Plesich wrote. ''Nor did he want the public to think that he or IBH had a lot of money. Sam has always been a very private person when it comes to his own money, and he was inappropriately secretive when it came to these deposits.''
Ciccolini also filed a tax return in 2004 listing his income for the previous year as $101,064 when it was $407,062. Although he faced only one income tax charge, he has admitted other years' returns also were incorrect.
By 2003, the priest, who has no real expenses, had accumulated at least $1.6 million in personal wealth through gifts, bequests, his salary from the nonprofit and a $230,000 life insurance policy when his mother passed away, according to the court filing.
Ciccolini, whose father died at 41, grew up poor and felt responsible for the welfare of family members, the court filing says. As a young man, he would save money in a cigar box and hoard cash — a pattern that continued into adulthood.
In early 2003, he panicked after hearing a report that the United States was going to change the form of currency and decided to put his money in the bank, leading to the restructuring charge.
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