A Catholic priest accused of stealing at least $240,000 from three parishes in Fairfax County pleaded guilty yesterday to one count of embezzlement, and prosecutors agreed not to seek prison time.
Officials of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Arlington launched an investigation into the Rev. Salvator L. Ciullo, 70, of the Lincolnia area, after examining the books at St. Raymond of Penafort Parish in Fairfax Station, where Ciullo was the pastor from October 1996 to July 2000. A police affidavit said that four new parish bank accounts were opened during Ciullo's tenure, and that $105,000 was transferred from them to Ciullo's personal accounts.
Investigators then looked into the finances at Ciullo's previous parish, Church of the Nativity in Burke, where Ciullo served from June 1984 until June 1996. An audit of one account between 1994 and 1996 found $130,000 withdrawn from the church and deposited in Ciullo's personal accounts, the police affidavit said.
At Ciullo's most recent assignment, Queen of Apostles Church in Alexandria, auditors found a $5,000 transfer from a church account to Ciullo last November. Ciullo was placed on administrative leave with pay in December, church officials said.
Diocese auditors presented their findings to Fairfax police in July, and Ciullo was arrested on one count of embezzlement Aug. 1. The charge related only to the theft from Church of the Nativity.
Ciullo waived a preliminary hearing in October and chose to plead guilty yesterday even before he was indicted by a grand jury. Wearing his clerical collar, he did not speak to Fairfax Circuit Court Judge Jonathan C. Thacher and declined to comment later.
Although Ciullo faced a possible sentence of 20 years in prison, Assistant Commonwealth's Attorney Ian M. Rodway agreed not to oppose a suspended sentence and probation for Ciullo. Prosecutors also did not seek financial restitution, but arrangements for that are being made with the diocese, said William B. Cummings, Ciullo's lawyer.
"He regrets this mistake in his life," Cummings said. "He's still very dedicated to his ministry and hopes to return to it." Cummings said he could not discuss what happened to the stolen money, but Ciullo's mortgage-free purchase of a $298,000 town house in Lincolnia, on a $12,000 salary, raised suspicions within the diocese.
Linda Shovlain, a spokeswoman for the diocese, said Ciullo remains a priest but does not have an assignment. She did not know whether he would be assigned to another parish.