NY Mills Priest’s Sentencing Postponed to Sell Florida Condo, by Rocco Laduca, The Observer-Dispatch, April 26, 2012

NY Mills Priest’s Sentencing Postponed to Sell Florida Condo

By Rocco Laduca
The Observer-Dispatch
April 26, 2012

http://www.uticaod.com/latestnews/x1364632281/NY-Mills-priest-s-sentencing-postponed-to-sell-Florida-condo

Rev. Valentine Krul, 61, of Forestport -- a longtime pastor at the Church of the Sacred Heart and St. Mary Our Lady of Czestochowa in New York Mills -- pleaded guilty in Oneida County Court on Wednesday, Jan. 25, 2012, to second-degree grand larceny for stealing more than $87,000 in church funds for personal expenses, including buying a condominium in Florida. Krul will face 6 months in jail and 5 years of probation.

The sentencing of a New York Mills priest accused of stealing more than $87,000 from the church was postponed one more time Thursday.

The Rev. Valentine Krul, 61, of Forestport, has already been serving time behind bars in the Oneida County jail since late January after he pleaded guilty to second-degree grand larceny for stealing from the Church of the Sacred Heart and St. Mary Our Lady of Czestochowa in New York Mills between October 2008 and January 2011.

On Thursday, Krul was supposed to be formally sentenced by Oneida County Court Judge Barry M. Donalty to 6 months in jail, as well as 5 years of probation.

The proceeding was adjourned until Friday, May 18, however, because Krul needs a little more time to sell the condominium in Florida that he had purchased with more than $46,000 of the stolen church funds.

Krul’s attorney, Bill Borrill, has been working with Krul to sell of some of Krul’s personal assets, including finalization of the condominium sale.

The plan is to then pay back as much of the stolen money as possible at the time of Krul’s sentencing in three weeks.

The thefts were first discovered last year during a routine audit after Krul asked for a leave of absence from the church.

After leaving the church, Krul previously said he entered a six-month rehabilitation program in Maryland that was completed last summer. Krul was treated for “stress, depression and anxiety,” as well as alcohol abuse that included a DWI arrest in 2007 following a motor vehicle accident in New Hartford.