The Irish Examiner
Tuesday, April 02, 2013 – 04:29 PM
A suspended Roman Catholic priest accused of making more than $300,000 in methamphetamine sales and running an adult video and sex toy shop has admitted a federal drug charge.
Kevin Wallin of Waterbury, Connecticut, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute methamphetamine.
Wallin is scheduled to be sentenced on June 25. The agreed-upon sentence is 11 to 14 years.
Prosecutors say the 61-year-old had meth mailed to him from California and sold the drugs out of his apartment last year. They said he also owned an adult video and sex toy shop.
Wallin resigned as pastor of St. Augustine Parish in Bridgeport, Connecticut in 2011, citing health and personal problems.
Dubbed “Monsignor Meth”, Wallin was pastor of the church for nine years.
He was arrested in January, and a grand jury indicted him and four other people on drug charges.
An undercover officer bought meth from Wallin six times. Federal agents said they learned through phone taps and informants about other sales Wallin was making.
Connecticut US Attorney David Fein said the arrests dismantled “a significant methamphetamine distribution organization that spanned from California to Connecticut.”
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Priest Pleads Guilty to Charges Involving Methamphetamine Sales
The New York Times
Published: April 2, 2013
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
HARTFORD (AP) — A suspended Roman Catholic priest who was accused of selling more than $300,000 worth of methamphetamine from his apartment pleaded guilty on Tuesday to a federal drug charge.
The priest, Msgr. Kevin Wallin of Waterbury, admitted to conspiracy to possess methamphetamine with intent to distribute it. He is scheduled to be sentenced on June 25 to an agreed-upon sentence of 11 to 14 years.
An undercover officer bought methamphetamine from Monsignor Wallin six times, paying more than $3,400 for 23 grams of the drug, the authorities said.
Prosecutors said that Monsignor Wallin, 61, had methamphetamine mailed to him by co-conspirators in California and sold nearly four pounds of the drugs last year. He also bought a video- and sex-toy shop in North Haven, Conn., named Land of Oz Dorothy’s Place, apparently to launder the drug money, the authorities said.
Monsignor Wallin was pastor of St. Augustine Parish in Bridgeport for nine years until he resigned in June 2011, citing health and personal reasons. He previously served six years as pastor of St. Peter’s Church in Danbury.
He was granted a sabbatical in July 2011. The Diocese of Bridgeport suspended him from public ministry last May.
He was arrested in January, and a grand jury indicted him and four other people on drug charges.
Federal agents said they learned through wiretaps and informants about other sales that Monsignor Wallin was making.
David Fein, the United States attorney for Connecticut, has said that the arrests dismantled “a significant methamphetamine-distribution organization.”