American prosecutors claim that a Catholic priest in Pennsylvania has confessed to having falsified the results of a high level raffle in his parish.
Fr. Ross Miceli supposedly “admitted to publicly falsified the results of the winner of the Grand Prix” of a rifa in the St. Jude the Apostle parish in Erie.
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The confession was detailed in judicial orders of the Erie County Prosecutor’s Office, according to a report on August 7 In the Erie Times-News.
The Catholic parish organized the “Winavette” raffle in 2024, allowing buyers to acquire $ 50 tickets to have the opportunity to earn a 1LT Corvette Stingray. The winner of the event prize could choose between the car or $ 50,000 in cash. The raffle was open to participants throughout the country.
On December 25, 2024, the Church advertisement that “Martin Anderson” of Detroit had won the Grand Prix. The alleged winner “chose the option in cash,” said the church.
However, an employee of the parish allegedly “expressed concerns” about the raffle to the Bishop of Erie, Mons. Lawrence Persico, according to judicial orders, which led the diocese to investigate the contest and eventually contact the County Prosecutor’s Office.
The priest supposedly “admitted (to the employee) who made the name of the winner of the Grand Prize,” said Erie Times-News citing the documents. The priest would have committed the falsification after “a problem with the raffle system” left the Grand Prix without winner.
The priest said the money from the award “was still in an account” after the invention. Miceli supposedly told the employee that “he needed to keep this secret,” according to prosecutors. The priest would also have invented several other winners in the raffle.
The detectives seized the iPad and the iPhone of Miceli, as well as financial records of both the parish and the raffle, Erie’s newspaper reported.
The priest announced his resignation to the parish On the weekend of July 20, although he did not give a reason at that time. Erie’s diocese said last month that Miceli would go to the St. Timothy parish in Curwensville as of August 12, where he would be “sacramental assistant.”
The authorities in charge of the case did not immediately respond to a CNA consultation – Ewtn News – August 7 on August 7. Erie’s diocese also immediately responded to a request for comments.
But the diocese told Erie Times-News that she was aware of the investigation and was “fully cooperating with the corresponding authorities.”
On Facebookthe Church published that 2024 was the “last year” in which the raffle would take place, although they pointed out that Father John Detisch was organizing a Slot similar in the Catholic school Dubois Catholic School in Dubois.
Translated and adapted by the ACI Press team. Originally published in CNA.
Daniel Payne
Daniel Payne is a senior editor of Catholic News Agency. He previously worked at College Fix and Just the News. He lives in Virginia with his family.