OHIO
Coshocton Tribune
AKRON — A northeast Ohio Catholic priest who embezzled money from an alcohol and drug rehabilitation center he founded began serving his six-month prison sentence this week in a tax fraud case.
The Rev. Samuel Ciccolini started serving time at a minimum-security federal facility in Morgantown, W.Va., the Akron Beacon Journal reported.
The 70-year-old Ciccolini, known as “Father Sam,” has been prohibited from saying Mass or hearing confessions. Bishop Richard Lennon and his advisers in the Catholic Diocese of Cleveland won’t determine Ciccolini’s status with the diocese until he’s out of prison, diocese spokesman Robert Tayek said.
The priest was a beloved figure in the Akron area, and the community was shocked by his 2010 arrest and the discovery that he’d amassed millions of dollars, the newspaper said.
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