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Rodney Rodis sentenced to 63 months in prison

Rodney Rodis, a former priest of the Diocese of Richmond, was sentenced to five years and three months in prison for stealing hundreds of thousands of dollars from the Louisa County parishes of St. Jude, Mineral, and Immaculate Conception, Buckner.

Mr. Rodis, who is no longer able to represent himself as a priest and cannot celebrate the sacraments, used the money to support a wife and three children. His double life was not known by the diocese or parishioners until after he retired from priestly ministry, citing illness.

Now 51, he pleaded guilty to mail fraud and money laundering in October 2007 in the theft of more than $600,000 in donations from St. Jude’s and Immaculate Conception between 2002 and 2006.

U.S. District Judge Richard Williams issued the maximum punishment Feb. 21 in Richmond under federal sentencing guidelines and gave Mr. Rodis credit for time already served.

The judge also ordered Rodis to repay the Catholic Diocese of Richmond more than $591,000 and required him to meet with federal immigration officials for possible deportation after his prison term ends.

Prior to sentencing Mr. Rodis turned from the judge and faced people from his former parishes and apologized.

“To the parishioners, I am really sorry for what I have done to you,” he said. “I know what I did was wrong. I hope that one day I’ll be able to rectify my mistakes.”

Authorities said Rodis set up a bank account unknown by the two parishes and a post office box where he directed parishioners to send contributions. Rodis then transferred the money to this account, using it to support his family, a wife and three children, whom he concealed from parishioners. He also wired money overseas to relatives who used it to buy real estate.

Robert J. Wagner, an attorney representing Rodis, asked for leniency because of his client’s poor health, which includes prostate cancer and heart problems.

Mr. Rodis will receive a psychiatric evaluation and physical exam at a federal prison facility and will get any medical treatment he needs, Judge Williams said at the hearing. He is confined at present in the Northern Neck Regional Jail in Warsaw, awaiting transfer to a Federal facility. He has been incarcerated since his $10,000 bond was revoked last May 21, after he violated conditions by leaving Virginia and attempting to visit his wife and children in New Mexico.

Father Michael Duffy, who succeeded Rodis after his 2006 retirement, said the two parishes have moved on, but that many parishioners were disillusioned and felt their trust had been violated.

“He did this for more than five years, systematically, and in a very organized way,” Father Duffy said. “Restitution is what we’re after.”

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