By Jason Grant
The Star-Ledger
April 26, 2011
http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2011/04/morris_county_pastor_sentenced.html
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| Monsignor Patrick Brown walks into federal court for sentencing this morning for tax evasion. |
MORRIS COUNTY — A popular Morris County priest who spent 18 years leading the bustling parish of St. Vincent de Paul was sentenced yesterday to five months in prison for tax evasion by a federal judge who cast aside prosecutors' recommendations for probation.
In levying a sentence that seemed to catch the entire courtroom off guard — including dozens of parishioners from Morris County — U.S. District Judge Susan D. Wigenton in Newark said she needed to give a sentence that "reflect(s) the seriousness of what occurred" when Monsignor Patrick Brown broke the law. She also imposed a $30,000 fine as part of the sentence and five months of home detention.
Brown, 60, pleaded guilty in November to filing a false tax return in 2005 and diverting more than $63,000 in funds from the Stirling parish between 2004 and 2009. His pastor stipend was $30,000.
Brown used the money for gifts, repairs on his lake house and vacations to Hawaii, Ireland and Colorado.
He frequently shopped at a jewelry store in Morristown.
"For a person who has taken an oath from God … to (then) mislead the parishioners ... that's just very disturbing," Wigenton said moments before imposing the sentence.
"There's a level of deception there that seems almost pathological," she said.
The hearing itself turned contentious about halfway through, after Brown's attorneys had finished talking at length about his accomplishments, including growing the once-struggling parish.
Prosecutor Lee Vartan said Brown's scheme involved stealing closer to $570,000 from the parish.
Brown's defense lawyers quickly rose to their feet and denounced the allegations. Defense attorney Michael Critchley said the government admitted it could not prove beyond a reasonable doubt many of the allegations it had originally made against Brown.
Later in the day, John Lacey, another defense attorney for Brown, said "That is not something that I expect from the U.S. Attorney's Office because they are usually so careful not to make baseless accusations."
"Every fact stated by the government in court was previously made available to defense counsel, which had every opportunity to litigate their contentions in court," said Rebekah Carmichael, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Attorney's Office.
Brown, who remained composed during the hearing but who afterward started to tear up as he hugged an onlooker, spoke on his own behalf during the proceeding.
"My heart is very heavy with the knowledge of my own failures," he said.
"I take all responsibility for this problem … and I'm totally humiliated by the pain and suffering I have brought to the parish."
Wigenton said the court received 231 letters in support of Brown, many of which detailed generous and kind acts by the priest who became beloved by his large, prosperous parish.
After pleading guilty in November, Brown, a pastor at St. Vincent de Paul since 1992, resigned from his role with the church.
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