I do know there are completely different gods for everybody, however I’ve received a sense none of them can be chill with rigging a charity church raffle to get a C8 Corvette Convertible. Nicely, that is precisely what one pastor in Erie, Pennsylvania, allegedly did. Rev. Ross R. Miceli is accused of fabricating the identify of the Corvette raffle winner, in addition to the winners of different smaller prizes.
Now, the Erie County District Lawyer’s Workplace is investigating the St. Jude the Apostle Church Reverand, alleging that he rigged the Corvette raffle, tampered with its information and even dedicated theft, based on the Erie Occasions-Information. Miceli admitted to shifting cash from the automotive raffle account to a different account, claiming this different account — beneath the church’s identify — was interest-bearing. It wasn’t simply the Corvette raffle, although. He additionally reportedly made up a few of the winners for $500 prizes that have been supplied. Throughout an interview with detectives, the 42-year-old admitted to selecting the $500 winners who have been all household associates or his favourite parishioners.
How we received right here
Final 12 months, St. June the Apostle Church kicked off a raffle to boost cash for the parish. Its objective was to promote 9,999 tickets at $50 a pop to hopefully increase about $500,000, based on the Erie Occasions-Information. The grand prize was the aforementioned Corvette Convertible 1LT, however there have been different smaller prizes that led as much as the Christmas Eve Corvette drawing. Ticket holders have been assigned random numbers by way of the pc, and the four-digit quantity on the profitable ticket needed to match the profitable quantity in that night’s Choose 4 Pennsylvania Lottery drawing.
The quantity drawn, 5851, was assigned to Martin Anderson of Detroit. He was named the winner on the raffle’s Fb web page and determined to take the $50,000 money prize fairly than the convertible. There was only one situation: Anderson by no means purchased a ticket. So, not solely is he lame for taking the cash, he is a cheat (allegedly)!
Shock, shock. Miceli is leaving the church because the investigation continues, based on the Occasions-Information. He might be heading to a few smaller church buildings southeast of Erie. There is not any phrase but on what kind of punishment he may very well be going through.
h/t: Highway & Monitor
