Rev. Donald C. Ouellette

May 6, 2004

5 years for priest in theft

Fitchburg pastor looted $250,000

Gary V. Murray, T&G STAFF

WORCESTER- A priest who stole more than $250,000 from a Fitchburg church was sentenced to five years in jail yesterday by a judge who said he doubted the former pastor's explanation of what he did with the money.

The Rev. Donald C. Ouellette, 49, was sentenced to two consecutive terms of 2½ years in the Worcester County Jail and House of Correction after pleading guilty Feb. 24 in Worcester Superior Court to charges of stealing $254,834 from Immaculate Conception Church in Fitchburg.

Rev. Ouellette, who pleaded guilty to 18 counts of larceny more than $250, admitted writing more than 200 checks to himself from three separate church accounts and cashing them at local banks. His explanation to the court yesterday was that he gave all of the money to a Whitinsville man who said he needed it to pay bills.

The thefts occurred from April 2001 to January 2003, while Rev. Ouellette, who has since been placed on administrative leave by the Roman Catholic Diocese of Worcester, was serving as Immaculate Conception's pastor.

The stolen funds included money raised by parishioners, many of them elderly, for an elevator at the church.

Sentencing was postponed until yesterday to give Rev. Ouellette time to comply with Judge Peter W. Agnes Jr.'s demand for an explanation of where the stolen money went.

Through his lawyer, Michael P. McEvilly, Rev. Ouellete told the court yesterday he gave all of the money to an acquaintance, Daniel St. Francis of Whitinsville. Mr. McEvilly said Rev. Ouellette told him Mr. St. Francis, a former altar boy at St. Patrick's Church in Whitinsville, where the priest was once assigned, contacted him at various times and told him he needed money for outstanding medical bills, child-support obligations, rent payments, school loans, tax liens and legal fees.

Mr. McEvilly said Rev. Ouellette told him he gave Mr. St. Francis the money with the understanding that Mr. St. Francis intended to pay it back. According to Rev. Ouellette, Mr. St. Francis indicated at different times that he would be able to repay the money either through a $300,000 inheritance or a court settlement in a like amount.

After speaking with Mr. St. Francis, state police investigators obtained records from Foxwoods casino in Ledyard, Conn., that showed Mr. St. Francis was "very involved with gambling," Mr. McEvilly said.

Records related to Mr. St. Francis' account at Foxwoods indicated he visited the casino about a dozen times in 2001 and twice in 2002, Mr. McEvilly said. He said Mr. St. Francis also acknowledged betting on dog races.

Assistant District Attorney Richard L. Greco said Mr. St. Francis told investigators he received money and vehicles from Rev. Ouellette, but "nowhere near" the $254,834 the priest said he gave him.

The 28-year-old Mr. St. Francis placed the amount at $40,000 to $50,000 and said he spent about half of that on "ordinary household expenses," according to Mr. Greco. The prosecutor told Judge Agnes there were no signs of "high living" on Mr. St. Francis' part and that although Mr. St. Francis acknowledged having a gambling problem, records from Foxwoods did not indicate he lost large sums of money there.

Mr. Greco recommended a sentence of 5 to 7 years in state prison. He said Rev. Ouellette betrayed the trust placed in him by members of Immaculate Conception parish.

"They felt that they were betrayed. They felt devastated. They were disillusioned, and they were disgusted," the prosecutor said. He said church members told him that some of their fellow parishioners turned away from the church because of Rev. Ouellette's actions.

"In a large sense, he stole the faith of a lot of members of the parish," in addition to stealing their money, Mr. Greco told the court.

The prosecutor said Rev. Ouellette gave about $2,000 to a prison inmate, William Lamontagne of Rhode Island, but that money could not be directly traced to the money stolen from the church.

Mr. McEvilly asked that his client be placed on probation or sentenced to jail, rather than state prison. He said the Worcester diocese was reimbursed by its insurance companies for the stolen money and that Rev. Ouellette had taken out a $250,000 life insurance policy and named those insurers as beneficiaries so that they would be paid back upon his death.

"He is here to say that he is sorry for his actions," Mr. McEvilly said. "He has recognized that what he has done is terribly wrong, and he will live with that for the rest of his life."

Before imposing sentence, Judge Agnes told Rev. Ouellette his account of what he did with the stolen money "doesn't have the ring of truth.

"I have yet to be provided with a reason or an explanation for the conduct, one that makes any sense at all to the court," Judge Agnes said.

In addition to the two consecutive jail sentences of 2½ years each, Judge Agnes imposed a third consecutive term of 2½ years, but suspended it for 10 years with probation. As conditions of probation, he ordered Rev. Ouellette to continue to pay the premiums to keep his life insurance policy in effect and to refrain from assuming any unsupervised fiduciary or trustee responsibilities.

Normand J. Babineau, chairman of the Immaculate Conception finance committee, was among several parishioners in court yesterday.

"It's a sad day," Mr. Babineau said when approached for comment after Rev. Ouellette's sentencing. He declined further comment.

Priest gets five years

By Matt O'Brien

WORCESTER -- A judge sentenced a Fitchburg pastor to five years in jail Wednesday after saying he did not believe the priest's explanation for stealing more than $250,000 from the Immaculate Conception Church.

The Rev. Donald Ouellette, 49, did not speak at his sentencing hearing, but he wrote in an eight-sentence letter that he was "directed" to give the stolen money to a Whitinsville man.

"He had given all of this money to a man named Daniel St. Francis," said Michael McEvilly of Leominster, the Catholic priest's lawyer, who apologized to Immaculate Conception parishioners on behalf of his client.

McEvilly told Superior Court Judge Peter Agnes that St. Francis repeatedly fabricated reasons to get more money from the priest, convincing Ouellette at one point that he was in the custody of the U.S. Marshals service as part of the witness protection program.

Agnes said the priest's account was incomplete and "doesn't have the ring of truth."

"I have yet to be provided with a reason or explanation for the conduct, one that makes any sense to the court," he said.
Agnes ordered Ouellette to serve three consecutive two-and-a-half-year sentences in the House of Correction, but suspended the last sentence for 10 years of probation.

McEvilly said after the hearing that Ouellette may not have to serve all five years because he will be eligible for parole after half the sentence.
He said St. Francis met Ouellette when he was a teenage parishioner at St. Patrick's Church in Whitinsville.

"He was a parishioner," McEvilly told the Sentinel & Enterprise. "He knew him when he was there. He said (St. Francis) called him in dire straits."

Ouellette, a former religious brother and teacher, became a diocesan priest in 1990 and was assigned to St. Patrick's in the early 1990s.
St. Francis could not be reached to respond to Ouellette's allegations Wednesday.

His grandmother, Helen Ranne of Whitinsville, said she's never heard of Ouellette or the case against the priest.

"He was born April 6, and he just turned 28," Ranne said. "As far as I know, he's been a good boy and he's been brought up Catholic."
She said her grandson was a former altar boy at St. Patrick's and is now the father of two young children.

"He said he had medical bills, he had tax liens, he had child support payments. I believe he had a surgery. He had rent he had to pay," McEvilly told the Sentinel & Enterprise. "It started and it just grew."

McEvilly said in court Wednesday that Ouellette told him St. Francis concocted a litany of false stories to assure the priest that he would repay him.
St. Francis allegedly told the priest he was heir to his grandmother's $300,000 estate, he had a civil case where he had $300,000 in an escrow account, and that his dad bought him a home.

The priest said he had to call the U.S. Marshals to confirm that St. Francis was not in the witness protection program, McEvilly said in court Wednesday.
"It just does not strike the court as truthful," Agnes said.

Assistant District Attorney Richard Greco said prosecutors don't believe the money allegedly given to St. Francis accounts for all the stolen money. He said Ouellette may have given St. Francis between $40,000 to $50,000.

"We have no way of really being able to ascertain ... where the rest of the money went," Greco said.

There are some records that indicate St. Francis had a gambling problem and spent a minor portion of the money at Foxwoods casino.

McEvilly and Greco both said they did not believe a claim by prison inmate William Lamontagne, a former Whitinsville man who told police and a reporter he may have received stolen money from Ouellette.

The priest gave the inmate no more than a few thousand in cash, which was probably not stolen, Greco said.
Greco asked for a five- to seven-year sentence for the priest.

"He stole the faith from a lot of the members of his parish," Greco said.

The prosecutor said Ouellette stole the money between April 2001 and January 2003.

"There was a rather systematic, calculated theft," Greco said.

He said Ouellette endeared himself to members of the parish, "only to betray their trust."

Twelve parishioners from Immaculate Conception attended the sentencing and later expressed relief their ordeal was over.

Gerri Bouvier of Fitchburg said, "As far as I'm concerned, he didn't take responsibility for what he did. He gave it to a friend is what he said." Another parishioner, Norm Babineau of Westminster, said, "Today is a sad day, and that's it. Nothing beyond."

Several of Ouellette's family members and friends, including his three sisters, also attended the hearing and sat on the opposite side of the courtroom.
Ouellette spoke with friends and family before the hearing, but was silent during the sentencing, appearing upset as he left the court in handcuffs.

Monsignor Thomas Sullivan, chancellor of the Worcester Diocese, and the Rev. Rocco Piccolomini, vicar of clergy, sat in between the two large parties.  "I wanted to be pastorally supportive of Father Ouellette, to show our priestly solidarity," Sullivan said. "I wanted him to know that the priests have not abandoned him, that we are united with him no matter what came down."

A friend of Ouellette, Worcester native Domenic Mercurio Jr., said he was disappointed with the sentence because he knew Ouellette to be a "gentle" man.

"A guy like this is not violent," Mercurio said. "He shouldn't be incarcerated because he's not a threat to society."

Mercurio said he knew Ouellette because they both participated in the worldwide Cursillo Movement, a Catholic faith organization that has a local branch, which meets at a retreat center in Whitinsville.

He said even as Ouellette faced his 18 counts of larceny, the priest still helped give him advice on life decisions.

"There's not a person over this who's not hurting," Sullivan said. "It's a troubling and difficult day for everybody."

Church member David Bouvier said his major concern was getting Ouellette to relinquish his formal pastorship of the Fitchburg church.

Sullivan said that will not happen until the diocese gets a new bishop to make ecclesiastical decisions later this month.

May 3, 2004

No one knows why priest stole

FITCHBURG-- Leominster City Councilor Richard Marchand said he believes the Rev. Donald C. Ouellette was "destined" to become a priest.

"Just the way he treated people. He was a man of great, genuine kindness," Marchand said of the priest who was his classmate at Notre Dame Preparatory School in Fitchburg.

Seventy-seven men graduated from the Notre Dame Preparatory School in 1973, but Marchand said Ouellette was the only one who eventually joined the same monastic order of brothers who taught at the high school.

Ouellette eventually left the Brothers of the Sacred Heart and decided to become a diocesan priest.

Barbara Garneau, who grew up with Ouellette in Leominster in the 1960s, said she wasn't surprised when he pursued a religious life.

"I think that you always kind of sensed that he was deeply spiritual and had a vocation. When he went into the religious order, it wasn't something that I was surprised about," said Garneau.

Longtime church member David Bouvier said he never really had a chance to learn much about the 49-year-old pastor before the priest quietly left the parish last year, then pleaded guilty to stealing its money.

"Did I go there on odd times to go visit? No," said Bouvier said. "He was a person that I felt you couldn't get awfully close to, for some reason."

Seventeen months have passed since Bouvier confronted Ouellette with suspicions that there was something wrong with church finances.

Bouvier, manager of Fitchburg Municipal Airport, believes most church members gave up trying to figure out why Ouellette, who spent just two years at the parish, would steal the money they donated.

"I didn't even mark it on my calendar," Bouvier said when asked about the priest's sentencing hearing, scheduled for Wednesday in Worcester Superior Court. "It's kind of like you want to put it behind you."

Putting it to rest

The church already has recovered the stolen money through insurance.

"I've put it to rest. That's all I have to say," said parishioner David Bedard of Fitchburg.

Ouellette has been unavailable for comment since the Sentinel & Enterprise reported on the missing church money 13 months ago, and his lawyer, Michael McEvilly of Leominster, has repeatedly refused to address questions about the priest or his case.

"Don has always been there for, I think, all of his friends over the years to help them with their struggles. Everyone feels bad for what's happened," said Garneau, who now runs Our Father's House in Fitchburg.

Born in New Brunswick, Canada, Ouellette was the only son in a French Canadian family of four children.

His parents moved the family from Canada to Leominster, where Ouellette's father took construction jobs operating heavy equipment, according to the father's 1998 obituary.

"He was a good person. We don't always understand what happens in people's lives when decisions are made," Garneau said. "It's just something that just didn't fit with the person we know. I hope that somehow he finds peace. I don't know how you ever come back from something like that."

Marchand said he did not know Ouellette that well during high school, but he said he always had a "good relationship" with the teen.

Marchand said Ouellette participated in school events like the Key Club, a community service organization.

"I can't remember ever not seeing him in the stands rooting for the school (sports teams)," Marchand said. "He was quiet. He wasn't the personality that was the real stickout, but I can't ever say that I ever heard a negative remark about him."

Friends note that even when Ouellette became a priest in 1990 and eventually found his way back to the area, he remained interested in teaching.

Opening students' eyes

"I think he saw his role at St. B's as opening up the students' eyes," Garneau said. "He had a very open personality, very easy to talk to. I think a lot of the students there found a trusted person that they could get strength from and guidance."

Ouellette also sometimes visited convicted child rapist William Lamontagne while the former Whitinsville man was in prison, and he has denied through his lawyer Lamontagne's claims that the priest gave some of the stolen church money to the inmate.

David Mulrooney, director of the Crozier House in Worcester, said Ouellette twice called him to get other inmates, at least one a convicted sex offender, into a group home after their prison terms ended.

"There was a guy, this goes back a number of years, that he called me about and recommended that he be considered a candidate for Crozier's," Mulrooney said. "I went down and I interviewed the guy and it seemed to me he paid his dues."

Mulrooney said it was the first parolee he accepted to his program.

"My instincts are fairly good," he said. "That was a good referral."

Bouvier still had not decided at the end of last week if he would travel to Ouellette's sentencing Wednesday.

"I would suspect that if we didn't have our money, it would be a different story," Bouvier said. "Let him get his sentencing and do his time."

He said District Attorney John Conte's office has invited him and other parishioners to attend the hearing, but he said no members have been asked to submit victim impact statements.

He said he wants Ouellette to relinquish the pastorship he still formally holds because of canon law.

"It's kind of a quiet parish. Very, very few people have even talked about it," Bouvier said. "They were hurt, and I think they just want to put it behind them."

Pastor guilty of stealing $250K

By Matt O'Brien

WORCESTER -- The former pastor of the Immaculate Conception Church in Fitchburg pleaded guilty Tuesday to stealing $250,000 from the church.

The Rev. Donald Ouellette, 49, the former pastor of the Catholic parish on Walnut Street, pleaded guilty to 18 counts of larceny in Worcester County Superior Court.

Superior Court Judge Peter Agnes set a May 5 sentencing date for Ouellette.

Ouellette, who has not offered an explanation for the crimes, could potentially face up to five years in prison for each one of the 18 convictions, said the priest's lawyer, Michael McEvilly of Leominster.

Ouellette was accused of writing more than 207 checks to himself from a parish bank account while pastor at the Fitchburg church since 2001, prosecutors have said.

The priest's unscheduled change of plea in Worcester Superior Court happened two months after a convicted child rapist, William Lamontagne, told the Sentinel & Enterprise that Ouellette funneled some of the stolen money to him in prison.

Ouellette has denied through his lawyer that he and the prisoner were in a relationship.

"You listen and it's confusing," said Monsignor Thomas Sullivan, who visited Lamontagne in prison last year and talked to Ouellette about the allegations so he could help Bishop Daniel Reilly decide what to do about the priest.

"What the relationship was is just confusing," said Sullivan, who as chancellor of the Worcester Catholic Diocese acts as liaison to the district attorney's office. "One says one thing and one says the other."

Church officials said they have not decided yet what to do with Ouellette, who has been stripped of his priestly duties but canonically is still considered Immaculate Conception's pastor.

"This is still within the realm of the civil process," said diocesan spokesman Ray Delisle. "While all of this was going on, our focus has been on being able to care for the needs of the parish."

A large portion of the stolen money was to be used for a fund to build an elevator in the 75-year-old church building.

All of the stolen money has since been recovered in steady installments through insurance.

Now that Ouellette admits guilt, Lamontagne said he fears prosecutors will implicate him in the priest's larcenies.

Lamontagne, whose 14-year prison term recently ended, spoke Tuesday by telephone from the Massachusetts Treatment Center in Bridgewater, where he is housed with more than 500 other sex offenders as the state petitions to keep him civilly committed as a sexually dangerous person.

"I was taking money from (Ouellette) and receiving money without actually knowing where it was coming from," Lamontagne said. "I guess it was my fault for being naive and being lured into this relationship, or whatever."

May 5, 2004

A letter from Rev. Donald C. Ouellette

Superior Court Judge Peter Agnes on Feb. 24 ordered Ouellette to write a letter explaining where the stolen money went prior to the priest's sentencing Wednesday.

While serving as Pastor of Immaculate Conception Parish in Fitchburg, I wrote checks to myself. These checks were all from Immaculate Conception Parish accounts. The total sum was $252,000.00.

All the checks were payable to me and were cashed by me. I gave this money to Daniel St. Francis of Whitinsville as directed by him.

I apologize to the parishioners of Immaculate Conception Parish whose trust in me I have destroyed. I apologize to the Bishop, diocesan community, the public at large and to all others whose lives have been affected.

I have taken out a life insurance policy for two hundred fifty thousand dollars ($250,000.00) to repay the monies.

Sincerely,
Rev. Donald C. Ouellette

December 28, 2003

Lunenburg woman urges support for priest accused of embezzlement
To the editor:

I have been greatly disappointed and saddened lately as I have read the unfolding story of the Rev. Donald Ouellette, the former Fitchburg pastor accused of embezzling from Immaculate Conception Church -- especially the Dec. 22 news story by Matt O'Brien.

While I do not know Father Ouellette personally, he served as a substitute priest several times at the parish which I attend. I found him to be an excellent speaker and kindly-looking man on those occasions. It is undoubtedly true that those qualities can sometimes be deceiving, but he seemed sincere and devout.

Perhaps all that has been said by convicted sex offender William Lamontagne, who says he had a romantic relationship with a Fitchburg priest, is true. Only Father Ouellette and the One he vowed to serve know the complete story. However, I would like to remind readers that our actions and words are subject to interpretation, and thus are likewise subject to misinterpretation.

With that said, I would urge any of Father Ouellette's former parishioners who have any words of truth and support to offer in defense of him to speak up now, when he needs them most. It may well be that no one has anything positive to say about him, but I would be surprised if that was truly the case.

Many acts of kindness go undocumented by newspapers, so it is likely that some parishioners have already offered their support to Father Ouellette in some way. Perhaps those parishioners could come forward and make this support known to the public.

Michelle Hier
Lunenburg

December 22, 2003

Inmate, priest in prison romance?

By Matt O'Brien

BRIDGEWATER -- Convicted sex offender William Lamontagne says he had a romantic relationship with a Fitchburg priest who allegedly funneled stolen money to him.
"He came before everybody in my life," Lamontagne told the Sentinel & Enterprise during an interview inside the Massachusetts Treatment Center for the Sexually Dangerous. "I told my family if they were going to accept me, they'd have to accept him, too. And then he did this."

Investigators have charged the Rev. Donald Ouellette, pastor of the Immaculate Conception Parish in Fitchburg, with stealing more than $250,000 from the church.
He faces 18 counts of larceny over $250 and is free on bail while awaiting trial.

Ouellette, 49, grew up in Leominster and has served in the Worcester Diocese since his 1990 ordination.
"I just hope that people in the Immaculate Conception parish know I know that they're hurting," Lamontagne said. "I really feel sorry for those people. I felt in some way that I was sharing their pain. But on the other side, I was sharing what he did to them."

Lamontagne said he called Ouellette collect on a daily basis over several years, and he said the priest visited him regularly in prison.
"He dedicated himself to getting me a place to live. He promised we'd be together, that he wouldn't leave me," Lamontagne said. "I guess his feelings were growing towards me. I don't know how to explain it. There were a lot of things that were supposed to happen. ... We were going to go out and do things together when we were out, be together and stuff."
Priest denies relationship

Leominster attorney Michael McEvilly, who represents the priest, said his client denies having a relationship with Lamontagne other than as a prison minister.
The convicted sex offender told the Sentinel & Enterprise Ouellette bought him a radio, television, hot pots, fans, a walkman, headphones, and covered child support the prisoner owed a 19-year-old daughter who lives with Lamontagne's ex-wife in Maine.

"I owed probably about $30,000 worth of child support that he was going to pay for," Lamontagne said. "The bills don't come to me. They come to him at St. Boniface (Church in Lunenburg)."

Letters addressed to Lamontagne from the state of Maine have arrived for years at the Lunenburg church where Ouellette once served as associate pastor before becoming pastor at Immaculate Conception in 2001, according to the prisoner and confirmed by a letter sent to him from Monsignor Thomas Sullivan, chancellor of the Worcester Diocese.
The letters continued to arrive this fall to the church pastor, the Rev. Edward Niccolls, according to the monsignor's letter.
"For many years (Niccolls) has been forwarding it to Father Don because he was told to do so," Sullivan wrote to Lamontagne last month after visiting the prisoner.
Financial favors

Lamontagne said he remembered the first time Ouellette called him, while he was a priest at St. Patrick's Church in Whitinsville.
He said Ouellette helped set up a will that would include calling hours at the Linwood church where Lamontagne once served as an altar boy, something Lamontagne's family could not afford.
As the years passed, Lamontagne said Ouellette set up two credit accounts in the prisoner's name, one a Visa Classic from Providian Bank in New Hampshire, the other a Capitol One Account that has maxed its $1,200 limit.

The prisoner showed a copy of a Capitol One account statement, which lists Lamontagne as the owner, but lists the address as 59 Walnut St., in Fitchburg, the home of the Immaculate Conception Church.

Lamontagne also showed pages of prison financial documents that show how much money Ouellette would send to Lamontagne on any given week, sometimes just $20 and other times $160. The Worcester County District Attorney's office has subpoenaed the documents.

Lamontagne said fellow inmates and correction officers taunted him about the relationship, and one correction officer reported an incident about six years ago when Ouellette allegedly touched Lamontagne in the officer's presence.

"One day he put his hand on my lap," Lamontagne said. "People knew and people suspected. ... Sometimes I'd say I didn't want to hear it. Other times I'd cover it up."
Even defrocked pedophile priest John Geoghan, Lamontagne's frail neighbor in the protective custody unit at MCI-Concord, questioned the relationship before being moved to the Shirley prison where he was murdered in August, Lamontagne said.

"I told them he's just a friend," Lamontagne said of Ouellette. "They said no, he ain't no friend."
State police and later the diocese arrived to question Lamontagne about the priest. Sullivan urged Lamontagne to tell him and Bishop Daniel Reilly what Ouellette had done in a letter sent on Nov. 22.
"Father Don is admitting nothing to me about anything at all," wrote Sullivan. "If you don't tell us the truth, Bill, I don't know who is going to tell us the truth."
Lamontagne is up for parole after spending 14 years in prison for two separate sex offenses, one involving the molestation of a 4-year-old girl and the other for orchestrating the armed rape of an adult woman.

He remains in the Bridgewater facility with more than 500 other sex offenders as he awaits a civil trial to determine his risk to re-offend.

In an interview last week he appeared at a conference room without handcuffs, wearing a pale blue prison uniform.

Of medium build, Lamontagne wears a mustache and has grown his hair long for the first time in his life.

As he entered the room, he expressed dismay that a correction officer would be standing nearby during the interview, saying he wanted to check with the superintendent.
Lamontagne said Ouellette was frequently his official advocate, calling state representatives, prison officials and others to make sure he was treated well.
But he said it took him some time before he realized the priest might want something more.

"I don't consider myself to be gay," Lamontagne said last week. "I never in my life went with another man. Then when Father Don was doing this, I was kind of hurt from past relationships with my ex-girlfriend and stuff like that. I was kind of vulnerable; I was kind of naive. I didn't know what was going to happen."

Ouellette remains on administrative leave from the church, but officials said he cannot be canonically removed as pastor without good reason.

Ouellette pleads guilty to theft

Fitchburg priest admits to stealing $254,834 from parish

WORCESTER A Catholic priest pleaded guilty yesterday to stealing more than $250,000 from the Fitchburg parish where he was pastor, and agreed to write an account of what he did with the money before his sentencing.

The Rev. Donald C. Ouellette, 49, admitted in Worcester Superior Court that he stole $254,834 from Immaculate Conception Church in Fitchburg by writing checks to himself from three separate church accounts and cashing them at local banks.

The money stolen had been raised by parishioners for an elevator at the church.

Rev. Ouellette pleaded guilty before Judge Peter W. Agnes Jr. to 18 counts of larceny of more than $250 in thefts that occurred from March 15, 2001, to Jan. 2, 2003. He has been placed on administrative leave by the Diocese of Worcester.

Judge Agnes postponed sentencing until May 5, telling Rev. Ouellette he wanted a written "narrative" explaining what he did with the money at that time.

"I have not heard an explanation, let alone a satisfactory explanation, of what happened to the funds," Judge Agnes said, adding that Immaculate Conception parishioners and diocesan officials "should know something beyond that there has been a theft."

Assistant District Attorney Richard L. Greco told the judge he did not know what Rev. Ouellette did with the stolen money.

Judge Agnes said Rev. Ouellette did not have to give "an accounting of every dollar" he stole but should provide a general outline of where the money went, "if spent, for what? If given as gifts, to whom and for what?"

Rev. Ouellette agreed to the judge's request after consulting his lawyer, Michael P. McEvilly. Diocesan officials have said they expected to be fully reimbursed by their insurer.

William LaMontagne, 43, of Rhode Island, a convicted child rapist, has alleged that Rev. Ouellette gave him some of the stolen money. Mr. LaMontagne told authorities the priest gave him money when he came to visit him in Concord State Prison. Rev. Ouellette said he visited Mr. LaMontagne as part of a prison ministry.

Mr. Greco told Judge Agnes he would recommend that Rev. Ouellette be adjudicated a "common and notorious thief," a finding by the court that increases the maximum allowable sentence for larceny from 5 to 20 years. The prosecutor said he would ask that Rev. Ouellette be sentenced to 5 to 7 years in state prison.

Mr. McEvilly said he would make his sentencing recommendation on May 5 but told the court he had discussed various sentencing options with his client, including house arrest, probation or a jail sentence.

Judge Agnes, who discussed the case privately with the lawyers at sidebar, said he had not made up his mind about the sentence he would impose, but believed that some form of incarceration was called for. The judge said he was more inclined to impose a House of Correction or county jail sentence than a state prison sentence.

He also said he would allow Rev. Ouellette to withdraw his guilty pleas and go to trial if he decided to sentence him to state prison.

October 22, 2003

Accused priest has title -- but no collar

By Matt O'Brien

WORCESTER -- In a dark suit, without the collar that once marked him as a priest, the Rev. Donald Ouellette appeared at his second Worcester Superior Court hearing Wednesday to face charges that he stole more than $250,000 from the Immaculate Conception Church in Fitchburg.

On administrative leave from the Worcester Diocese, officials said Ouellette remains pastor of his Fitchburg church in name only.

"It's a title, he still holds the title technically," Worcester Diocese spokesman Raymond Delisle said Wednesday. "But he's been suspended from all activities. He can't even be portraying himself as a priest. ... He shouldn't even be wearing a collar."

Ouellette's lawyer, Leominster attorney Michael McEvilly, raised no objections Wednesday to a request by Assistant District Attorney Richard Greco to release the state prison financial records of a convicted child rapist who says Ouellette gave him some of the misappropriated funds.
Former Lunenburg resident William LaMontagne, an inmate since 1989, told state police he received money from Ouellette while he was incarcerated at MCI Concord.
Neither McEvilly nor prosecutors would say how or why Ouellette knows LaMontagne.

Bishop Daniel Reilly has placed Ouellette on administrative leave and appointed a new administrator at Immaculate Conception.

"Canonically (Ouellette) still holds the title of pastor," said Delisle. "We can't take any canonical action until the outcome of this trial."
The diocese ordained Ouellette in 1990 and gave him his first assignment as associate pastor to St. Stephen's Church in Worcester. He later moved to St. Patrick Church in Whitinsville, where a deacon Wednesday said parishioners are as bewildered there as they are in Fitchburg about the larceny allegations.
"When I first read it, I was shocked," said Anthony Surozenski, the deacon at St. Patrick's since 1990. "When he was here he was just a fine, upstanding young priest. He was well-liked, he was a very easy-going type of person. He served well, that's really all I can say."

Surozenski said Ouellette would not have been in charge of accounts in Whitinsville, since he was not an administrator there.
In 1995 Ouellette moved to Fitchburg and worked as a teacher and chaplain at St. Bernard's Central Catholic High School. While serving there he lived in various residences and rectories, including at St. Boniface Church in Lunenburg and St. Camillus Church in Fitchburg, Delisle said.

His first assignment as a pastor, the only church position to give him administrative responsibilities, was in 2001 at Immaculate Conception Church in Fitchburg, Delisle said.
As pastor he was accused of stealing over $250,000 worth of parish funds, some of which was to be used for a new elevator at the church, between spring 2001 and early 2003.

As Ouellette awaits trial, Delisle said the priest no longer lives on diocesan property.

"As far as I know he's on his own," Delisle said. "He's not in parish property."

October 23, 2003

Subpoena allowed in church case

Inmate says money sent for him

Gary V. Murray. TELEGRAM & GAZETTE STAFF

WORCESTER- A judge has granted a prosecutor permission to subpoena prison financial records relating to an inmate who claims he received some of the money a priest is accused of stealing from a Fitchburg parish.

The Rev. Donald C. Ouellette is under indictment for allegedly stealing $250,000 from Immaculate Conception Church in Fitchburg, where he served as pastor before being placed on leave by the Catholic Diocese of Worcester earlier this year. The money, which was raised by parishioners for an elevator at the church, was allegedly stolen by Rev. Ouellette between March 15, 2001, and Jan. 2 of this year.

Last week, Assistant District Attorney Richard L. Greco filed a motion in Worcester Superior Court seeking court permission to subpoena Concord State Prison records relating to money deposited with the state Department of Correction for the benefit of inmate William Lamontagne.

The 43-year-old Rhode Island man, who is serving a sentence of 12 to 15 years for child rape and indecent assault and battery on a child, told authorities he received some of the money Rev. Ouellette stands accused of stealing while he was an inmate at Concord, according to Mr. Greco's motion.

Prosecutors have not said how much money Mr. Lamontagne maintains he was given by Rev. Ouellette or what he told investigators about his relationship with the priest.

Rev. Ouellette's lawyer, Michael P. McEvilly, declined to comment yesterday on Mr. Lamontagne's allegations.

Judge Elizabeth M. Fahey allowed Mr. Greco's motion after a brief hearing yesterday. Judge Fahey initially questioned whether Mr. Lamontagne's privacy rights might require that he be notified of the prosecutor's request. She later granted the motion, however, after Mr. Greco showed her a letter from Mr. Lamontagne that the prosecutor said established the inmate's willingness to cooperate with investigators.

Mr. McEvilly did not object to the motion.

Judge Fahey continued Rev. Ouellette's case to Nov. 5.

Last month, Bishop Daniel P. Reilly presented Immaculate Conception parishioners with a $174,500 check from the diocese's insurer covering some of the money allegedly stolen by Rev. Ouellette. The bishop said he expected the balance of the money to be paid by the insurance company by January.

Friday, October 17, 2003

Inmate says priest gave him stolen funds

Statement involves Ouellette case

Gary V. Murray, TELEGRAM & GAZETTE STAFF

WORCESTER- A Rhode Island man serving a state prison sentence for child rape told state police a priest accused of stealing $250,000 from a Fitchburg church gave him some of the money.

The Rev. Donald C. Ouellette was indicted last month on charges of stealing $250,000 from Immaculate Conception Church in Fitchburg, where he was pastor before being placed on leave by the Catholic Diocese of Worcester earlier this year. The thefts allegedly occurred between March 15, 2001, and Jan. 2 of this year and involved money raised by parishioners for an elevator at the church.

Assistant District Attorney Richard L. Greco, who is prosecuting the larceny case against Rev. Ouellette, filed a motion Wednesday in Worcester Superior Court seeking court permission to summon certain "financial/bank" records maintained by the state Department of Correction.

The prosecutor is seeking any records relating to money deposited with the correction department for the benefit of inmate William Lamontagne, 43, formerly of North Kingstown, R.I.

On Dec. 22, 1989, Mr. Lamontagne was sentenced to 12 to 15 years in state prison after being convicted of child rape and indecent assault and battery on a child in Worcester Superior Court, according to court records.

According to Mr. Greco's motion, Mr. Lamontagne gave a statement to state police indicating that he "received some of the misappropriated money from Donald Ouellette while he was incarcerated at MCI Concord."

The motion does not say what Mr. Lamontagne told investigators his relationship with Rev. Ouellette was or how much money he alleged he was given.

District Attorney John J. Conte declined to comment on Mr. Lamontagne's allegations. Rev. Ouellette and his lawyer, Michael P. McEvilly, could not be reached by telephone for comment.

Mr. Greco asked that the requested records be delivered to the court clerk's office and be made available only to the lawyers in the case.

Rev. Ouellette pleaded not guilty at his Sept. 22 arraignment and was released on his own recognizance pending a pretrial conference Wednesday.

The district attorney's office has filed a petition with the court asking that Mr. Lamontagne, who remains in custody, be committed to the Massachusetts Treatment Center in Bridgewater as a sexually dangerous person.

Parish in dark about missing money

Milton J. Valencia,TELEGRAM & GAZETTE STAFF

FITCHBURG- Left with only rumors and speculation, some parishioners at the Immaculate Conception Church are calling for the Diocese of Worcester to explain why there's a criminal investigation into missing church money.

"We're pretty upset. We're a relatively small parish and a close-knit family,' said David Bouvier, who is one of five parishioners appointed to a finance committee to oversee church funds. The committee was formed last month, less than two weeks after the Rev. Donald Ouellette, pastor of the church, left on what was called a medical absence.

Elizabeth Stammo, a spokeswoman for District Attorney John J. Conte, confirmed this week that her office has begun a criminal investigation into missing church money. She would not say who was the focus of the investigation, or how much money is missing.

Parishioners say the diocese contacted Mr. Conte's office and set the investigation into motion.

"It's devastating to all of us to hear this,' Mr. Bouvier said. "It's only fair that the parish family knows what's going on here.'

Some fear that the money missing is from what was raised though different parish events, such as a yearly yard sale, a fall harvest fund-raiser, and a Christmas fair. Parishioners have been raising money over the last several years - since before the Rev. Ouellette arrived - for an elevator at the church. Some of the money in the Walnut Street church's restoration account has been used for refurbishing an organ and for renovations.

Mr. Bouvier, who is chairwoman of the church's fund-raising arm with his wife, said more than $20,000 is raised every year.

"It'd be nice to know what's going on,' said Rose Frechette, a parishioner who was also appointed to the finance committee. "Someone from the bishop's office should come and tell us. This is so sad for the parish.'

Monsignor Richard Collette, the 16-year pastor of the church who retired nearly two years ago, was called back to serve as pastor when the Rev. Ouellette, his successor, was placed on medical leave. It is not known where Rev. Ouellette is staying, or what his medical condition is. A family member refused to comment yesterday.

Ms. Frechette said Monsignor Collette arrived at a Saturday Mass early last month and announced that the Rev. Ouellette had been placed on medical leave. Close to two weeks later, she said, she was asked to serve on the finance committee to oversee church funds.

And this past week, she learned there is a criminal investigation into that money.

"We should have had a finance committee meeting before the criminal investigation,' she said, adding that the committee has not yet met. "We are asked to be on a committee, and then we're told money is missing.

"We're parishioners, we should know what's going on.'

Raymond L. Delisle, spokesman for the Diocese of Worcester, said the diocese must allow the district attorney's office time to conclude its investigation.

"The only way to stop rumors is to come up with facts,' he said. "And the facts will have to come from the investigation.

"I'm assuming the investigation is to determine how out of order things are and why.'

Mr. Bouvier said it's not fair for Monsignor Collette to do the "dirty work,' and have to explain to the church's 300 members why their pastor has left and why there's a criminal investigation.

"It's not fair for him to handle the brunt of this when he doesn't know this,' Mr. Bouvier said. "Don't leave us in the dark.'

But Normand Babineau, who was also appointed to the committee, defended the diocese, saying it is not appropriate to talk about an issue that is under investigation.

He said he has information about the church money, but refused to discuss what he knew. He said the diocese has already done its own investigation, and referred its findings to the district attorney's office.

Mr. Babineau would not say how he knows information about missing church funds.

"I think I have to protect people who are innocent until proven guilty,' he said.

January 9, 2003

Area church to recover last of stolen funds

By Matt O'Brien

FITCHBURG -- The Immaculate Conception Church will soon recover the last $25,000 of the $250,000 allegedly stolen from the parish by its former pastor, churchgoers said.

"Spirits are good," said David Bouvier, one of the parishioners who first confronted the Rev. Donald Ouellette about missing money the priest allegedly stole. "Once everybody saw the money come in, they felt considerably better."

Word of the recovered money came as the Worcester Catholic Diocese announced Thursday a total loss of $793,996 in the 2003 fiscal year, with more than $325,000 specifically spent on social programs or legal costs relating to the clergy sexual-abuse crisis.

Church officials said parishes like the Immaculate Conception, which has faced threats of closure in the past, remain financially sound.

The situation is in stark contrast to the Boston Archdiocese, where officials prepare to announce multiple church closings by June.

"That's what he needs to do in his diocese," said Monsignor Edmond Tinsley, the Worcester Diocese's financial director, of Boston Archbishop Richard O'Malley's decision to consolidate churches. "We are not at that stage in our diocese. Any range of possibilities are there."

Bouvier said it was not the first time Immaculate Conception parishioners pulled together after a financial scare that threatened the church.

A previous pastor 20 years ago sent a letter warning of the possible closure of the Walnut Street church, founded by French Canadians more than a century ago, Bouvier said.

"The parishioners got together and we packed that church that Sunday," Bouvier said. "These parishes have to realize today that parishioners have to kick in."
Bouvier, acting commissioner of the Fitchburg Municipal Airport, said lay people realized last year something was wrong in the parish Ouellette took over in 2001.
The priest is free on bail awaiting trial on 18 counts of larceny.

Ouellette maintained parish finances, but for two years he failed to pay the Worcester Diocese a 7 percent annual fee for the services they provide, Bouvier said.
The debt amounted to about $50,000, which the church recently paid back to the diocese while steadily recovering the stolen funds through insurance.
Bouvier, in part, blames "loose bookkeeping down at the Chancery (in Worcester). You would have thought after a year of not paying anything back, that would have raised some flags, but apparently not."

Tinsley said every church is audited once every five years, but otherwise responsibility lies with the pastor and a finance committee.
A private firm conducted an audit about five years ago, before Ouellette's arrival, and another in November, after Bishop Daniel Reilly placed the priest on administrative leave, Bouvier said.

"You have a mandated parish finance committee, but that's basically where the control would be," Tinsley said. "We have standards to be followed, but we don't audit the books every year."

Elevator project moves forward

Along with paying back $50,000, the church can now begin a long-awaited elevator project, paid for by donations, that will cost more than $100,000, Bouvier said.
"We're already putting together a building committee to move forward with the elevator," Bouvier said. "Hopefully, come springtime, we'll start the elevator project ... We're hoping to put an elevator in big enough to handle a casket."

Bouvier said while some in the church are bitter and want "closure" from Ouellette's alleged crimes, most do not discuss it and have moved on.
"We're one of the very few parishes that I would consider ourselves pretty well off right now, as far as not owing debts or anything," Bouvier said.
The diocese recently placed the parish and churches across Worcester County into administrative "clusters," which church officials argued did not signify a step into eventual consolidation.

"We would like to have a centralized system," Tinsley said. "We need to move more cautiously, centralizing the system because we can't take on greater deficits."
Much of the diocese's loss last year came from one-time capital investments in an effort to put many parish cemeteries into diocesan control. The second-largest amount stemmed from priest retirement funds because more elderly priests require assisted living and medical care.

"The number of priests who might need long-term care, that's something we can't predict," Tinsley said. "People are living longer, thereby becoming more frail, and health care is escalating in double figures, higher than inflation."

The diocese paid more than $325,000 last year for issues relating to the sex-abuse crisis: $49,982 to pay for therapeutic services for victims, $100,190 in legal fees, $35,000 for undisclosed legal settlements, and $142,645 for activities through the Office for Healing and Prevention, according to the financial audit released

September 5, 2003

Parish priest indicted in theft

Rev. Ouellette charged in theft of Fitchburg parish's $250,000

Kathleen A. Shaw
TELEGRAM & GAZETTE STAFF

WORCESTER- The Rev. Donald C. Ouellette has been indicted by a Worcester County grand jury on charges of stealing more than $250,000 from Immaculate Conception parish in Fitchburg.

District Attorney John J. Conte said yesterday Rev. Ouellette will be arraigned in Worcester Superior Court at some future date.

Bishop Daniel P. Reilly said yesterday the diocese is attempting to recover the lost money through its insurance carrier.

The bishop also appealed to Catholics to take a greater interest in the operation of their parishes and in the accounting for parish funds.

The bishop in March placed Rev. Ouellette on medical leave after parishioners discovered money was missing. His status was recently changed to administrative leave. The Rev. Thien Nguyen was appointed parish administrator.

"All of us share a great concern at the possibility that the trust which parishioners have placed in their pastor was apparently broken by the misappropriation of parish funds," Bishop Reilly said yesterday.

Rev. Ouellette, 48, whose last known address was 59 Walnut St., Fitchburg, was indicted during a recent sitting of the grand jury on 18 counts of larceny of more than $250, according to Mr. Conte. The thefts allegedly occurred between March 15, 2001, and Jan. 2 of this year. Mr. Conte said he did not know what motive Rev. Ouellette might have had for taking money. "The bishop came to us about it," he said.

Rev. Ouellette was installed as pastor in March 2001 by Auxiliary Bishop George E. Rueger. A Leominster native, Rev. Ouellette was ordained in 1990 after completing studies at Catholic University of America. At one time he was chaplain at St. Bernard's Central Catholic High School.

Mr. Conte said Rev. Ouellette is charged with writing more than 207 checks to himself that amounted to more than $250,000 and cashing them at local banks. The checks were drawn on the account of the Roman Catholic Bishop of Worcester A.C.S. Immaculate Conception Parish. Mr. Conte said he understood the parishioners had raised the money for an elevator at the church.

The Massachusetts State Police detective unit assigned to Mr. Conte's office conducted the investigation.

Normand Babineau, a member of the parish finance committee, said yesterday he and three other parishioners discovered money was missing and questioned Rev. Ouellette about it in November. He said the pastor's explanation was not satisfactory and they turned the investigation over to the bishop. Mr. Babineau said since a court case is now pending, he did not want to elaborate on what Rev. Ouellette told them about the missing money.

"I believe in the court system. Every man should have a fair hearing in a court of law," Mr. Babineau said. He cautioned people to refrain from "finger pointing."

Bishop Reilly said the diocese began an investigation after learning from Immaculate Conception finance committee members that money apparently was missing. He said the diocese concluded "that this was a matter for the civil authorities to handle."

"We have been cooperating fully with them and will continue to do so. the Diocesan Finance Office has already notified our insurance carriers of the loss of funds, and we will pursue the recuperation of these losses under our insurance coverage," the bishop said.

Bishop Reilly expressed his gratitude to Monsignor Richard Collette who returned to the parish after two years of retirement to fill in after Rev. Ouellette left. The bishop thanked Rev. Nguyen for his willingness to administer the parish "as it seeks to deal with this problem."

Bishop Reilly also said he will offer any assistance to the parish that may be needed. "I want the faithful of Immaculate Conception parish to know I am with them in this ordeal. May God bless them for their goodness and patience," he said.

Audit reviews, finance committees and standardized bookkeeping are regulated and mandated for all 126 parishes of the diocese, the bishop said. "This case is a reminder that active participation by parishioners in the fiscal affairs of their parish is vital to the stewardship of each and every parish," he said.

The bishop said he will encourage parishes "to take advantage of all available means to assure sound fiscal management and the proper safeguard of funds."

"In Christian charity, I ask that you pray for Father Ouellette and his family during these days and in the future. In the meantime, I have changed Father Ouellette's status from sick leave to administrative leave. He will not be exercising priestly ministry in this diocese or elsewhere until further notice, pending the outcome of this indictment," Bishop Reilly said.

D.A.: Priest stole $250K

By Matt O'Brien

FITCHBURG -- A Fitchburg priest allegedly stole over $250,000 from Immaculate Conception Church by writing more than 207 checks to himself from the parish account, Worcester County District Attorney John Conte said Thursday.

The Rev. Donald Ouellette, 48, suspended pastor of the historic Catholic church on 59 Walnut St., cashed the checks at local banks, Conte said in a statement.
Ouellette was indicted this week by the Worcester County Grand Jury on 18 counts of larceny over $250. There has not been an arraignment date set for the priest.
"All of us share a great concern at the possibility that the trust which parishioners have placed in their pastor was apparently broken by the misappropriation of parish funds," Bishop Daniel Reilly, the head of the Worcester Diocese, said in a statement Thursday.

The Sentinel & Enterprise first reported that money was missing from the church in April, at the start of Conte's months-long investigation into the stolen money and a few months after a small group of parish lay leaders first privately confronted Ouellette about their financial concerns.

Until Wednesday, Conte would not say how much money had reportedly been stolen from the church, and many church members said they remained in the dark until now.

"We've been waiting for some closure, and I guess this is the beginning of the closure," said lifetime parishioner Janet Zadrozny, who was baptized at the church over 50 years ago. "I'm not sure how I feel about it. It's one of those bittersweet moments, I guess. It's the beginning of the end."

Ouellette, a Leominster native, grew up as a member of St. Cecilia's Church in Leominster, a church that was, as the Immaculate Conception was to Fitchburg, the historic center for the French-Canadian Catholic community in the city, according to the Rev. Francis Goguen, pastor of St. Cecilia's.

"It's certainly a sad moment for him and his parish," said Goguen, who has known Ouellette since he was an area college student in the 1970s. "There are a lot of good people in that parish."

"Immaculate Conception is the original French parish of Fitchburg," said Goguen. "You might say it was the founding home parish."
The parish was founded in a basement in 1886. The towering church that stands on Walnut Street today was completed about 75 years ago.
A few parishioners close to the church administration began raising flags at the end of last year when area businesses started to call them personally to ask about unpaid bills.

David Bouvier of Fitchburg, Kenneth Caron of Fitchburg, Normand Babineau of Westminster and a few other longtime church members privately confronted Ouellette about their concerns.

When they were not satisfied with the answer, they met in Worcester with Bishop Daniel Reilly, who forwarded the information to Conte.
"Early this year, when we learned from parishioners who are members of the parish finance committee of the missing funds, we investigated the situation internally and concluded this was a matter for the civil authorities to handle," Reilly said in the Thursday statement. "We have cooperated with them fully and will continue to do so."

Bouvier and Babineau both have told the Sentinel & Enterprise that some of the church funds were held temporarily at a bank, the I-C Credit Union branch in Fitchburg, and then transferred to a bank belonging to the diocese.

The checks "were drawn on the account of the Roman Catholic Bishop of Worcester A.C.S. Immaculate Conception Parish," according to Conte.
I-C Credit Union, which was founded as a non-profit credit union for poor French-Canadians, started in the basement of the parish as the "Immaculate Conception Credit Union," but is no longer affiliated with the parish, Babineau has said.

Immaculate Conception Church did not have a lay finance committee, and Ouellette was the sole financial administrator, until the investigation began earlier this year.
"Audits reviews, finance committees, and standardized bookkeeping are regulated and mandated for all 126 parishes throughout the diocese," Reilly said Thursday. "This case is a reminder that active participation by parishioners in the fiscal affairs of their parish is vital to the stewardship of each and every parish."
Zadrozny, who with her husband helped organize the annual late-September church bazaar which raised funds for the parish, said the loss of money was "devastating" because it marked a "sense of betrayal" in the parish.

But she said from a "morale standpoint" the church would get by "because it's such a resilient parish."
Reilly said the diocese would try to recover the lost money with insurance coverage.

"We do have fairly substantial insurance accounts," said diocese spokesman Ray Delisle. "I think that it's doing OK. It's still continuing to hold its own, but certainly we want to do everything we can to recoup those funds."

Conte has not given any motive for Ouellette's alleged larcenies, and Zadrozny said church members want to know "if, in fact, it's true and what his reasons were."
Ouellette after college joined a Catholic religious community of brothers, where he served as a teacher. He later attended seminary at the Catholic University in Washington, D.C. before he was ordained as a priest in June 1990 by the late Bishop Timothy Harrington, according to Ray Delisle.

He resided or worked at parishes in Worcester, Whittinsville, Lunenburg, and Fitchburg before he was appointed pastor of Immaculate Conception in February 2001, Delisle said. Prior to becoming pastor, he was a teacher and chaplain down the street at St. Bernard's Central Catholic High School.

Reilly placed Ouellette on sick leave in February, near the beginning of Conte's criminal probe, then more recently placed the pastor on administrative leave.
Ouellette now lives alone in Worcester, according to the diocesan chancellor, Monsignor Thomas Sullivan.

"He will not be exercising priestly ministry in this diocese or elsewhere until further notice, pending the outcome of this indictment," Reilly said in the statement.