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Ex-priest Rodis due in Louisa court today
 
Monday, Jul 21, 2008 - 06:08 AM 
 
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The former Catholic priest convicted in federal court of secretly wiring donation money overseas is scheduled for arraignment today in Louisa County on more charges there.

Rodney L. Rodis, 52, is due in Louisa County Circuit Court at 9 a.m.

The state case revives 13 felony counts accusing Rodis of stealing money donated to Immaculate Conception and St. Jude Catholic churches in Louisa County while he was pastor of both from 1995 to 2006.

Rodis retired in May 2006.

In the fall of that year, the Diocese of Richmond discovered a secret bank account in which Rodis was depositing donation money.

The diocese asked for a police investigation, and a Louisa grand jury indicted Rodis in January 2007.

The diocese later learned that Rodis apparently had been married in his native Philippines two years before coming to the United States. He was living with his wife and children in Spotsylvania County while pastor of the two churches.

Federal authorities then began a wire-fraud investigation into the matter. Last year, then-prosecutor R. Don Short dropped state charges to let the federal case proceed but maintained the state's option to reactivate the Louisa County case.

In February, Rodis received a five-year federal prison term for mail fraud, wire fraud and money laundering. He is serving his sentence at a federal prison in North Carolina.

Investigators believe Rodis diverted as much as $1 million for personal use during the two churches' major capital campaigns. He was ordered to pay back $591,484. He wired money to the Philippines, where his family purchased property, according to federal court evidence.

This spring, new Louisa Commonwealth's Attorney Thomas A. Garrett Jr. decided to once again pursue state charges against Rodis because he thought the theft should be addressed.

Rodis could face a sentence of up to 260 years in prison if convicted on all counts.

 

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