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Priest's whereabouts, status of investigation uncertain as anniversary of raids nears
By Ryan Phillips
Nearly a year has passed since a federal search warrant was carried out at St. Joseph’s parish in Starkville and the Catholic Diocese of Jackson, but few new developments have surfaced since the story first grabbed headlines. Despite the passage of time and rumors spreading through the church body, questions persist about the investigation’s primary suspect, Father Lenin Vargas-Gutierrez, who has not been formally charged nor exonerated in connection with an investigation that alleges not only years of fraud by the now-disgraced priest, but a coverup at the highest levels of the Jackson diocese. REVELATIONS Nov. 6 marks the one-year anniversary of the filing of a 37-page affidavit in federal court that sought to establish probable cause for a search warrant to be carried out at locations at the Starkville parish and at the Jackson diocese office. The Catholic Diocese of Jackson covers 65 Mississippi counties, with 48,000 registered Catholics in its parishes. The Diocese said federal agents served search and seizure warrants on the chancery office and on St. Joseph parish in Starkville on Wednesday, Nov. 7, 2018. The affidavit was filed by Special Agent William G. Childers of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI). The HSI describes itself as a “critical investigative arm of the Department of Homeland Security and is a vital U.S. asset in combating criminal organizations illegally exploiting America's travel, trade, financial and immigration systems.” The search warrant was executed and documented in federal court, but no new progress has been released and no new filings made since. The affidavit filed for the search warrant alleges Vargas not only defrauded parishioners out of more than $33,000 in solicited donations for treatment for his non-existent cancer, but that the leadership at the Jackson diocese, including Bishop Joseph Kopacz and then-Vicar General Kevin Slattery, actively worked to cover up Vargas’ criminal activity in an effort to avoid negative publicity for the church. The assertions made by federal investigators in the filing were corroborated by five confidential informants in the church, including a former associate pastor at St. Joseph, Father Rusty Vincent, who had initially approached the Jackson diocese with his concerns about Vargas. Vincent was closer to Vargas than most, as the two church employees lived together at the church’s parsonage at 15 Middleton Court in Starkville. Agents began meeting with informants, including Vincent, in late August 2018 into September, after authorities were notified of improprieties being committed that had been communicated to the Diocesan leadership, but not acted upon internally by the church. As the community outside of the parish walls waits for any authoritative response on the case, Vincent says it has already spread through the church that Vargas has left the country and likely won’t be tried in court. “There was no formal acknowledgment in an email or anything, but I was at a committee meeting where the Bishop (Kopacz) admitted that Lenin had left the country but said nothing beyond that,” Vincent told the Starkville Daily News on Thursday. “From what I have been told and what I know, he has left the country. I have been told he turned in his green card at the border and there is no plan to come back.” Vargas, 47, is no longer employed at the Starkville parish. When contacted about the rumors, Joanna Puddister King, who serves as director of communications for the Diocese, said “As of yet, nothing has been handed down through the case and Vargas is free to travel about until otherwise stated by authorities.” Federal authorities conducting the investigation have said little since and could not comment on the status of the ongoing investigation. “With (Vargas), I’m not sure what they are going to do,” Vincent said. “I personally hope they go get him and go after them because the people deserve some answers and some justice, but I don’t know what (the federal investigator’s) mindset is.” Vincent did say, though, that his understanding is the U.S. Attorney’s Office is still pursuing the case against the Jackson Diocese. “People want accountability,” Vincent said. “I want that, too.” Father Jason Johnston, a priest who came to Starkville from his role as parochial vicar of St. Francis Assisi Parish in Madison, took the helm at St. Joseph in December 2018, after Vincent was reassigned to Vicksburg following the news that he had been a confidential informant in the investigation. Johnston said he has also heard a great deal of speculation and had been approached by parishioners with questions about the investigation. “There’s been a lot of rumors,” Johnston said. “I hate to get in the middle of things, but I’ve heard [Vargas has left the country], heard he was in Wisconsin and Minnesota, but really there’s been a lot of talk and I’m just trying to stay out of it.” Sue Allen, who has publicly defended Vargas over the last year and previously worked as a coordinator of Social Justice Ministry for Catholic Charities, Inc. with the Diocese of Jackson, continues to maintain Vargas’ innocence. Allen now lives in Minnesota and is no longer employed by Catholic Charities, but claims to have maintained a close relationship with Vargas in the time following the raid of the church offices. “[Vargas] has a sister in Minnesota and was given permission to go visit his sister there,” she said in an interview with the Starkville Daily News. “I just know he is with family, with permission.” In professing Vargas’ innocence, Allen claims three federal grand juries have convened since the search warrant was executed, with no indictments handed down. She then accused prosecutors of meeting with Vargas to offer him immunity in exchange for testifying against Bishop Kopacz, to which she says Vargas refused, out of loyalty to the bishop. The U.S. Attorney’s Office has repeatedly declined to comment on the ongoing investigation over the last year, which is standard practice. “It’s unjust and [the U.S. Attorney’s Office is] dragging it out,” Allen said. “I’m speculating that they have an agenda and has more to do with bigger fish than Father Lenin. I know for a fact from multiple sources that he is innocent and is not just being prosecuted but persecuted.” In the affidavit, claims are made that the Diocese had knowledge of Vargas’ wrongdoings, but did not notify authorities. And the roots of the controversy, according to the affidavit, can be traced back to 2014 when Vargas had an extended stay at OCH Regional Medical Center for breathing trouble. At some point during this time, federal investigators, working off information provided by informants and subpoenaed medical records, claim Vargas was diagnosed as being HIV-positive. Despite the HIV diagnosis, Vargas began telling those around him and in the church that he had been diagnosed with Walden Strom’s macroglobulinemia lymphoma — a rare form of cancer. The Diocese then allegedly sent Vargas to Canada for treatment because of the inability of stateside hospitals to treat the specific type of cancer. Throughout late 2014, Vargas announced on numerous occasions to parishioners that he had cancer, which is documented with information provided in the affidavit, in addition to online fundraising campaigns and past testimony from parishioners. Then, authorities believe the fraudulent fundraising began. The affidavit states that following his HIV diagnosis after being treated for pneumonia at OCH in September of 2014, but prior to his trip to Canada later that year, a GoFundMe account was created to cover his medical expenses. According to investigators, a subject mentioned only as “Roberto,” started the crowd-sourcing online fundraiser. Informants corroborated this fundraising to authorities, saying he was receiving donations from the GoFundMe, in addition to soliciting private donations and love offerings, including a $2,300 love offering from the Corpus Christi Catholic Church in Macon in April of 2015. Other records show examples including a check written out to Vargas from the church the following November in the amount of $21,500 — with parish records showing $19,500 of the money was marked for “Father’s Health Donation.” After news of the raids broke, the Starkville Daily News reported that the GoFundMe saw 57 people donate $9,210 to Vargas, all of which was reportedly refunded by the company. After one of the confidential informants learned that Vargas was, in fact, HIV-positive and not diagnosed with cancer, the information was allegedly forwarded to Bishop Kopacz in 2015. The church, after conducting an audit, claimed it put constraints on Vargas’ spending after they learned of his supposed criminal activity. Federal agents ultimately subpoenaed Vargas’ medical records from OCH and confirmed that after his condition had not improved, a doctor ordered a test for HIV, with Vargas ultimately checking out of OCH on Sept. 9, 2014 without seeing his doctor. A couple of years later, Vargas went to OCH for a “headache,” and reported that he was diagnosed with HIV in 2013. After combing through medical records, investigators determined that no medical report for Vargas made any mention of a cancer diagnosis. Prior to a documented 2016 visit at OCH, the affidavit says Vargas was sent to Canada for treatment and continued to collect money from parishioners to cover his medical costs. However, investigators found that Vargas did not go to Canada for cancer treatment, but rather was sent to the Southdown Institute of Toronto — a facility described by an informant in the affidavit as being a “sexual addiction facility for priests.” Founded in 1966, the Southdown Institute on its website claims to be “founded to address the needs of religious and clergy around addictions and mental health issues.” The affidavit then claims that the Diocese furthered Vargas’ cancer story with an email from Vicar General Slattery, who was in charge of fielding complaints about priests for the Diocese. The email, which contained a direct correspondence with Vargas, shows Vargas telling clergy that he had been receiving treatment for “Lymphoplasmascytic lymphoma,” which differed from the type of cancer he claimed to parishioners to be diagnosed with. Vargas allegedly informed both clergy and parishioners that he would be away for some time receiving treatment and continued to raise money for his medical expenses, despite the church paying for his time at Southdown. Two informants confirmed to investigators that the Diocese would have paid for Vargas’ treatment at the facility and that health insurance provided by the Diocese is good. Allen, who has insisted that Vargas is the victim of a persecution aimed at taking down the Diocesan leadership, said while Vargas did go to Southdown, his time there has been mischaracterized. “[Vargas] has been absolutely faithful to his vows and he contracted his diagnosis through no fault of his own,” she said. “Father did go to Southdown, who basically said no, he is innocent, he is not guilty of an immoral lifestyle and determined medically that he was safe to be returned to public ministry.” During this time, Vargas is accused of defrauding parishioners out of a total of more than $33,000 for his medical bills while at the same time propagating seemingly-fraudulent pet projects for an orphanage in the Mexican city of Morelia, along with a chapel at a mountain near the city. No documentation has ever been provided by Vargas for any of the fundraising efforts. The affidavit then accuses Vargas of spending the funds raised both for the pet projects and medical bills on personal expenses, with no indication any of the money was spent on medical bills. The trips to Mexico, though, became “troubling” to informants, who claim Vargas was using wire communication through the Skype app to communicate with “a Mexican individual known as Sergio Picon,” of Morelia, Mexico. Two informants claimed Vargas communicated with Picon daily on Skype and investigators found through research on social media that Picon owned a bar in Morelia, named Heaven and Hell. According to social media, the bar was still open in 2019, but no new posts or advertisements have been published on Facebook since May. Little is known about the bar, but Picon does have an active Facebook account sharing numerous promotions for the bar. A Google search of the bar and city in Mexico reports that the bar is permanently closed. Investigators also pointed out through social media that Vargas attended the bar’s grand opening in the summer of 2018. While this assertion was made by federal investigators in the affidavit, photo evidence of the aforementioned visit has not been independently verified by the Starkville Daily News. As summer turned to fall in 2018, news of the investigation broke and became one of the most widely-shared stories in the state. COVER-UP CONCERNS As Vargas was allegedly soliciting and spending thousands of dollars donated by parishioners, investigators painted a picture of the Diocesan leadership not only knowing about the criminal activity, but actively working to hide it from the public. The affidavit says in October of 2017, informants said Bishop Kopacz and Vicar General Slattery met with clergy about the situation at St. Joseph. Informants also claimed the leadership of the Diocese was informed of the concerns by church parishioners, as well. “I was with [Vargas] for two and half years and I went to the Diocese many times with issues about him, but nothing happened,” Vincent said. “There was someone that made it clear they didn’t want me [in Starkville]. I found out a lot of the stuff as I was there.” Despite the meeting and an internal audit being conducted by the Diocese, investigators claim Vargas continued to solicit money from parishioners. One informant confirmed to investigators that Vicar General Slattery, who was appointed in May to the position of Canonical Consultant for the Vicar General by Bishop Kopacz, was aware that Vargas was raising money from parishioners for an orphanage in Mexico and that Slattery “knew that the orphanage story was at least in part a ruse created by Vargas to get money.” Slattery also currently serves as sacramental minister for the Gluckstadt St. Joseph Parish. An informant then said Vicar General Slattery commented that “all would be better off if Vargas did not come back to Mississippi after his sabbatical.” As the investigation continued and Vargas’ alleged scheme persisted late into 2018, agents received information from the online payment resource PayPal that showed a type of recurring payment from Vargas was discovered for the dating site Successfulmatch.com — a niche dating site, with one niche, Positive Singles, marketed to those diagnosed and living with sexually transmitted diseases and HIV/AIDS. The news and all of its moving parts involving Vargas came as a shock to the St. Joseph parish, with parishioners immediately demanding answers from the Diocese and some demanding the resignation of those implicated in the investigation. Vincent, a year removed from the story going public, continued to express his doubts about transparency from the Diocese with regards to the Vargas situation. “The main reason I went to the authorities is I felt the people in Starkville needed someone to speak up for them and felt like the Diocese wasn’t going to do that,” he said. In the wake of news that Vincent would be transferred to Vicksburg after being identified as a confidential informant, the priest received substantial vocal support from St. Joseph parishioners, with 356 people signing an ultimately-failed petition to retain him as pastor. Vincent was reassigned, though, and Johnston was appointed to the position and task with rebuilding trust in the parish. The Starkville Daily News quoted the Diocese in December 2018, who said the reassignment was decided on by a personnel board in the summer of 2018, before Vincent came forward to announce he was an informant. At the time, the church called Vincent’s new role a “promotion.” While it has been a tough year, Johnston said the focus has been to keep the spiritual well-being of the church as a top priority. However, he said few updates on the situation have been provided by the Jackson Diocese. “There have been questions, but all I really know with certainty is that [the investigation] is ongoing, but that is really all we can say. We’re trying to move on with our own programs and keep it going,” he said. “I really try not to push [the Diocese] too hard on it in what I ask, but the line is it’s ongoing and they just say they haven’t heard much.” Vincent said if the church hopes to rebuild trust, it must start with the Diocese addressing its shortcomings, which have become public at a time when the Catholic Church is weathering controversies across the world. “What needs to happen is more transparency, way better communication, and a willingness to talk,” Vincent said. “I would say the biggest thing in the last year is the lack of information we’ve gotten, so there definitely needs to be more communication and information given out about what’s going on. It seems like we are just trying to pretend like it didn’t happen.” And while the last couple of years have been especially trying for St. Joseph, news outside of Mississippi during this time has done little to help the image of the Diocese in Jackson. The Starkville Daily News reported earlier this year that Bishop Kopacz, a native of Pennsylvania, was also mentioned in a Pennsylvania grand jury report in August 2018 after a two-year investigation into more than 300 priests linked to sexual abuse claims from more than 1,000 victims in the church. This came during his time as vicar general in Scranton, Pennsylvania. In that role, his job involved fielding complaints against clergy. He was appointed as the eleventh bishop of Jackson by Pope Francis on Dec. 12, 2013. Bishop Kopacz was not directly implicated in the widespread abuse, but was accused in several instances of not reporting abuse accusations from victims to his superiors, which he has denied. Bishop Kopacz was also scheduled to visit the Starkville parish for its Reconciliation Service on Dec. 19, 2018 but backed out a couple of days before. The Starkville Daily News reported the bishop did not attend the service so as not to be a distraction from the Sacrament. MOVING FORWARD It has been a tough road for St. Joseph parishioners as they have weathered each new detail that has emerged about their former pastor, but both Johnston and Vincent are optimistic for the future. “For a lot of people it has been trying,” Johnston said. “But, for the most part we’re getting along here at St. Joseph. We’ve been affected in a huge way but I think we are trying to heal and move forward.” Johnston then commented on the resiliency of the St. Joseph parish, which endured hard times well before Vargas was in Starkville. “The [St. Joseph parishioners] have undergone a lot over the years,” he said. “They lost a church about 20 years ago when it burned, then to have the beginning of the scandals, so the past year and a half have been tough for many Catholics.” In addition to the fire and scandal involving Vargas, the Starkville Daily News reported in March that the Catholic Diocese of Jackson named two priests formerly associated with St. Joseph Catholic Church in Starkville who were included on a list of priests accused of sexual abuse — Paul Canonici and Jack Smith. Johnston then called to anyone impacted by the recent controversy to come forward if they feel compelled to speak or if they need help. “We’re trying to be as transparent and accountable as possible and we hope that will come across,” Johnston said. “Whatever we can do, if there are those people out there, we are open to building bridges again.” Vincent said despite leaving Starkville, a place close to his heart, he is happy in his role in Vicksburg. “I do miss Starkville,” Vincent said when asked about how he has handled the last year. “I tried to stay up there but I’m doing well in Vicksburg. The parish has been very good to me. I do miss Starkville, and hate that I left the way I did leave, too. It was not the way I wanted to leave the parish.” When asked if the controversy still weighs heavy on his mind, Vincent said it is difficult for him to go more than a day or so without thinking about it. “It’s been a year since it happened and being away from Starkville for nine months, I’m doing okay overall,” Vincent said. “Vicksburg has been good for me to settle back into thinking about being a priest and not someone who is having to be part of a criminal investigation. But there is still a lot of distrust in leadership in the Diocese.” It is this lack of trust that both Vincent and Johnston hope to mend, at least as far as their local congregations are concerned. But Vincent said he will continue to pray for his friends in Starkville. “There are good people in Starkville who are dear to me, and there are times I do still wish [to be in Starkville], but I have fond memories and the people there are in my prayers a lot,” Vincent said. “I would say this, if they need encouragement, I know this is not over yet. I think there is more to come, whether it’s with Lenin or the diocese.”
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