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  Bucks County Church Thief with Big-Breasted Girlfriend Gets up to Two Years in Prison

The Trentonian
January 6, 2011

http://www.trentonian.com/articles/2011/01/06/news/doc4d26401c9919b972434577.txt

DOYLESTOWN, Pa. -- A sentence of up to two years in prison was handed today to the drug and alcohol counselor who bought breast implants for his girlfriend with some of the $101,000 he stole from the Catholic Church.

Michael W. McDonnell, 42, of Bristol, Pa., who said he stole the money because a pedophile priest had abused him as a youth, could be released from custody in 364 days under the sentence given him by Bucks County Common Pleas Court Albert Cepparulo.

"You preyed on the weakest and poorest people in our society at a time when they need help the most," Cepparlo said in dressing down McDonnell, who worked for years for the Bucks County Council on Drug Abuse and Alcoholism.

McDonnell admitted in court that he took the Philadelphia Archdioces for $101,000 over the years by forging invoices to make them look like reimbursements for counseling sessions he attended to cope with memories of the sex abuse.

Investigators determined, however, that McDonnell attended only a few counseling sessions but claimed he was in therapy six times a week starting in 2007.

The forgeries were uncovered during a probe into another $10,000 in funds missing from the Bucks substance abuse program he worked for.

Investigators said he used the money to get his girlfriend breast enlargements, pay bills, pay a housekeeper, golf outings and trips the the New Jersey shore, among other things, according to reports.

In addition to 364 days in the county prison or twice that much if he's a troublesome inmate, Cepparulo ordered McDonnell to pay restitution to both the church and county, and to serve five years of probation after his release from prison.

Cepparulo also said McDonnell can never again work in job that would require him to handle money.

 
 

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