OHIO
Fox 8
[with video]
October 30, 2013, by Melissa Reid
CLEVELAND — Father Andre Matthews, 54, of Cleveland, was sentenced Wednesday to two years in prison for stealing money from his parish.
Matthews was a reverend at St. Helena Church on W. 65th Street in Cleveland.
In June, he plead guilty to stealing more than $175,000 from the church over a six-year period. The defense brought up a witness at his sentencing to testify how sick Matthews is.
“In my opinion, Father would fare very very badly, if at all, with penal incarceration,” said Dr. John Conomy.
Church members packed the courtroom. Through a translator, one of the church council members said Matthews betrayed their trust.
“I came here today to say that our faithful, our very own church, is suffering,” said Fabian Barbolovici, a parishioner.
Another one of his victims, an 89-year-old parishioner, wheeled herself forward to say Matthews broke her heart.
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