OHIO
The Plain Dealer
By John Caniglia, The Plain Dealer
on September 23, 2014
CLEVELAND, Ohio – A judge Tuesday ordered a former pastor at St. Helena Church on Cleveland’s West Side to begin paying back more than $280,000 in restitution to the church.
If the Rev. Andre Matthews doesn’t, he will remain in prison for another year, Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Judge Richard McMonagle said.
The judge’s office scheduled a hearing Oct. 23 in which McMonagle will decide Matthews’ status. The former pastor has been in prison since Nov. 5, when McMonagle sentenced him to two years for fleecing the church and parishioners, a move that allowed Matthews to pay credit card bills and buy cars, as well as pay college tuition for his children.
Authorities said he stole $176,000 from the church and $106,000 from 89-year-old Aurelia Papp, who sat in her wheelchair in the back of McMonagle’s courtroom and watched the proceedings. She did not wish to comment after the hearing.
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