Dozens or people turned up to support Monsignor Kevin Wallin.
NBC Connecticut
07 May 2015
A suspended Connecticut Roman Catholic priest who authorities say dealt pounds of methamphetamine and bought a sex shop intending to launder his drug money will spend another three years in prison after being sentenced on Thursday.
Around 75 people were in court on Thursday to support Monsignor Kevin Wallin, 63, dubbed “Monsignor Meth” in some media reports, and the judge called it an “unprecedented” turnout for a drug trafficking sentencing.
Wallin, who has already served 28 months in jail, was sentenced to five years and five months in prison. With time served, Wallin will be in prison for three more years, followed by five years of supervised release.
“My shame remains intense. … ‘I’m sorry’ does not convey the remorse I feel,” Wallin said on Thursday. “The day I was arrested was a very good day.”
In March, Monsignor Kevin Wallin’s public defender filed a sentencing request for leniency in federal court in Hartford, citing Wallin’s three decades of charitable service as well as more than 80 letters of support, including one from the late New York Cardinal Edward Egan.
“I cannot ignore your decision to infect your community with methamphetamine,” Judge Alfred Covello said.
In addition to the dozens of supporters, 90 letters supporting wallin were also submitted.
Wallin pleaded guilty in 2013 to a methamphetamine conspiracy charge and agreed to a potential prison sentence of 10 to 11 years, but was asking for a sentence of no more than four years in prison, followed by a year of home confinement, 500 hours of community service and drug treatment.
“The record evidence demonstrates that Kevin Wallin is an extraordinary man whose remarkable character and acts have touched thousands of people,” Wallin’s public defender, Kelly Barrett, wrote in the sentencing request in March. “Kevin tragically became a methamphetamine addict. He fell from grace and did criminal wrong, but has confessed his crimes and has been working hard to atone for them.”
Barrett wrote that Wallin’s numerous accomplishments include serving as pastor of St. Peter’s Parish in Danbury and the Cathedral Parish in Bridgeport, volunteering with a variety of community groups, helping found an AIDS ministry program, leading an inner city charity group, serving on the Danbury Cultural Commission and serving on the board of directors of Sacred Heart University.
Egan, who died in March, was bishop of the Diocese of Bridgeport from 1988 to 2000 and praised Wallin in a letter to the court.
“He was outstanding in the fulfillment of his assignments and in his concern for people in need,” Egan wrote. “Father Wallin was held in highest regard as a dedicated clergyman and an outstanding citizen as well.”
Federal prosecutors said Wallin committed serious crimes and most people convicted of conspiring to sell meth are sentenced to at least 10 years in prison.
Federal investigators said Wallin had associates in California send him methamphetamine beginning in late 2008 or early 2009. By 2011, Wallin’s partners were sending him one to three pounds of meth a month and Wallin was running the drug operation out of his apartment in Waterbury, investigators said.
Wallin also bought the “Land of Oz & Dorothy’s Place” adult video and sex toy shop in North Haven and apparently intended to launder drug proceeds that totaled in the hundreds of thousands of dollars, federal agents said in court documents.
Wallin’s two accomplices in California — Chad McCluskey of San Clemente and Kristen Laschober of Laguna Niguel — were both sentenced last year to five years in prison. Two men who helped Wallin sell drugs in Connecticut also were convicted. Kenneth Devries, of Waterbury, was sentenced to more than two years in prison and Michael Nelson of Manchester awaits sentencing.
Brian Wallace, a spokesman for the Diocese of Bridgeport, previously said Wallin is still a priest, but remains suspended from public ministry.
“We’re asking for prayers for him, understanding and recognizing that many people … suffer from addiction and they lose control of their lives,” Wallace said. “It’s time for him to try to rebuild his life.”
Published at 8:46 AM EDT on May 7, 2015
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Suspended Catholic priest seeks leniency in sentencing on guilty plea to distributing meth
FOX News
HARTFORD, Conn. – A suspended Roman Catholic priest who pleaded guilty to conspiracy to possess and distribute methamphetamine and bought a sex shop to possibly launder his drug money is asking a federal judge for leniency at his sentencing Thursday in Connecticut.
Monsignor Kevin Wallin, whose lawyer says was lonely and overworked when he turned to drugs and became an addict, agreed as part of his 2013 guilty plea to a possible prison sentence of 10 to 11 years. He’s now asking for four years in prison and 500 hours of community service.
The 63-year-old priest has been incarcerated for the past two years.
Prosecutors say he headed the meth distribution conspiracy, and they are seeking a sentence of at least 10 years, which they say is appropriate for the crime.
Wallin began receiving methamphetamine in the mail from California suppliers in 2008 or 2009 and by about 2011, he began supplying meth to a New York distributor, authorities say. The quantity of meth supplied to Wallin “grew exponentially,” prosecutors say. What began as supplies of 3.5 grams grew to meth deliveries in the ounces and eventually 1 to 3 pounds a month, authorities say.
Wallin also bought an adult video and sex toy shop in North Haven and apparently intended to launder drug proceeds, federal agents say in court documents.
Wallin’s public defender says he has “zero criminal history” and is a beloved priest “with a record of extraordinary charitable service.” The defense cites Wallin’s three decades of charitable service and more than 80 letters of support, including one from the late Cardinal Edward Egan.
In court papers, the defense describes a priest who coped with the local parish’s financial troubles as best he could at the start of the Recession in 2008. He turned to drugs, particularly meth, as an escape, the defense says.
Wallin is addicted to meth and could receive community-based substance abuse treatment, his lawyer says.
Prosecutors responded by saying the government “expresses no opinion” on Wallin’s need for education, medical care and correctional treatment in the most effective way.
“Brian Wallace, a spokesman for the Diocese of Bridgeport, previously said Wallin is still a priest, but remains suspended from public ministry.
“’We’re asking for prayers for him, understanding and recognizing that many people … suffer from addiction and they lose control of their lives,’ Wallace said. ‘It’s time for him to try to rebuild his life.’”
The man has truly proven himself in countless ways to be unfit to be a priest. Support him by all means – as he attempts to rebuild his life as an EX-priest.
I swear that sometimes I am convinced I must be living in La La Land.
OMG!!!!!!!
Compare this:
“He was outstanding in the fulfillment of his assignments and in his concern for people in need,” Egan wrote. “Father Wallin was held in highest regard as a dedicated clergyman and an outstanding citizen as well.”
to:
“A suspended Connecticut Roman Catholic priest who authorities say dealt pounds of methamphetamine and bought a sex shop intending to launder his drug money will spend another three years in prison after being sentenced on Thursday.”
Or the other way around:
“Prosecutors say he headed the meth distribution conspiracy, and they are seeking a sentence of at least 10 years, which they say is appropriate for the crime.”
to this:
““We’re asking for prayers for him, understanding and recognizing that many people … suffer from addiction and they lose control of their lives,” Wallace said. “It’s time for him to try to rebuild his life.”
What????????????
Yes, let’s praise him for all the good he has done and lives he has ruined.
Sylvia…”la la land” is nothing compared to this bunk and deceivery.
I can’t believe he has not been defrocked! The former Bishop of Bridgeport (now deceased) gives him a great letter of recommendation: “Father Wallin was held in highest regard as a dedicated clergyman and an outstanding citizen as well.”
Right out of Breaking Bad!
Can you believe this???????????????????????????????????????
I swear the Church has gone mad!