May 2, 2008
Father Fay, hoping to stay out of prison, returns to court Tuesday
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The Rev. Michael Jude Fay will get another day in court. This time he won’t be pleading guilty but pleading for more time before he reports to federal prison.
Fay, the former pastor of St. John Roman Catholic Church, pleaded guilty last year to stealing more than $1 million from the church. He is scheduled to appear before Judge Janet Bond Arterton on Tuesday, May 6, at the U.S. District Court in New Haven, 141 Church St. Arterton had sentenced Fay to 37 months in prison.
Fay’s attorney filed a motion two weeks ago to further delay when the priest reports to federal prison.
Fay is seeking another 90 days of freedom. A previous motion to delay was granted for 45 days rather than the six months Fay originally sought in early spring. That delay was granted without a hearing. He is due to report to prison at the Butner Federal Correctional Complex in Butner, N.C. on May 19.
Fay’s attorney, Lawrence Hopkins, previously said Fay would die in prison if he does not continue the experimental treatment for his prostate cancer. His medical records were turned over to the judge after the last request for an extension.
The 90-day delay is in order to continue an experimental treatment that Fay’s lawyer says the prison’s medical services cannot provide.
“Defendant is awaiting an opinion as how he could be treated for his terminal cancer at that facility,” the document says.
Fay was sentenced in December to 37 months in federal prison for stealing parishioners’ money while serving as pastor of St. John’s.
Fay pleaded guilty in September to one count of interstate transportation of money obtained by fraud. He was facing up to 10 years in prison and up to $250,000 in fines.
In May 2006, it was discovered that Fay had been using church money to support his lavish lifestyle, which included trips to Europe, the Caribbean and other parts of the United States. A private investigation — prompted by another church priest and its bookkeeper, who both left the parish in 2006 — also discovered that Fay was in a romantic relationship with another man. Fay resigned shortly after the news broke.
The bookkeeper, Bethany D’Erario, filed a lawsuit for whistleblower retaliation against the Diocese of Bridgeport and St. John Parish earlier this month.
An August 2006 independent audit commissioned by the Diocese of Bridgeport, reported that St. John Parish lost at least $1.4 million since 2000. Fay became church pastor in 1991.
The U.S. Attorney’s office declined comment.
E-mail Darien Times reporter Susan Shultz at
sshultz@darientimes.com.
© Copyright 2008 by Hersam Acorn Newspapers
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