Crown requests 15 months jail time for priest guilty of theft

CANADA
Windsor Star

DAVE BATTAGELLO, WINDSOR STAR

Published on: July 28, 2016

A priest found guilty of stealing up to $234,000 from his own church should be sentenced to jail for 15 months, a Crown prosecutor said Thursday during a sentence hearing in Ontario Superior Court of Justice.

Given how Rev. Robert Couture created a “lavish lifestyle” for himself that included a new car, vacations, a hefty retirement account and extensive wardrobe, assistant Crown attorney Tom Meehan also asked the court to sentence the priest to two years probation.

He added the priest should be forced to pay back $178,624 for his crime — or reimburse the church to the greatest extent possible.

During his trial last fall, the court heard that from 2002 to 2010, Couture stole for his personal use between $170,000 and $234,000 from Ste. Anne Parish in Tecumseh.

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