'Father Sam,' Akron, Ohio Area Priest, Sentenced to Six Months in Jail, $830,000 in Fines

Plain Dealer
September 7, 2012

http://www.cleveland.com/metro/index.ssf/2012/09/father_sam_akron_ohio_area_pri.html


[with pdf]

CLEVELAND, Ohio -- The Rev. Samuel Ciccolini was re-sentenced this afternoon in federal court -- ending up with a six-mohth jail term and $830,000 fine after having an earlier sentence overturned, officials said.

Ciccolini, an an associate priest at Immaculate Conception Catholic Church in Akron, appeared before U.S. District Judge Games Gwin just after noon today.

Ohio.com reported that Gwin also sentenced Ciccolini to two years of supervised release and probation following the prison stay.

The report said that Gwin fined Ciccolini $584,272 on an income tax charge and another $250,00 on a bank fraud charge.

The Rev. Ciccolini, known by many as 'Father Sam,' had pleaded guilty in 2010 and was originally sentenced to one day in custody, a $350,000 fine and a

$3.5 million restitution order. That order was overturned this year by the U.S. Court of Appeals, which ruled that the judge had no authority to order restitution.

Following that, the Rev. Ciccolini's attorneys filed a motion asking for his $3.5 million back.

His salary as executive director of the Interval Brotherhood Home, an Akron-area center for alcohol and drug addiction he founded in 1970, had been $103,000.

Ciccolini admitted to depositing the cash in 139 separate transactions to avoid reporting requirements that come with making a single cash deposit of more than $10,000. The law is designed to prevent money laundering.

He told the judge his actions were irrational, that he hoarded cash for security in case the home needed money. When Gwin asked why he made the illegal deposits, Ciccolini said he panicked because the designs of various U.S. currencies were changing. Ciccolini said at first he kept the money in a safe deposit box and then in his room at the rectory.