Fake Priest Sentenced To Jail For Swindling Los Angeles Parishioners
LOS ANGELES (AP) — A man has been sentenced to a year in Los Angeles County jail for swindling parishioners while posing as a Roman Catholic priest.
The district attorney's office says 59-year-old Erwin Mena pleaded guilty to one count of grand theft.
The swindle involved selling tickets to the visit of Pope Francis to the United States last year. Prosecutors say Mena never made the arrangements. In addition to jail time, he was ordered Wednesday to pay about $53,000 in restitution.
The district attorney's office says Mena passed himself off as a priest at two Los Angeles churches where he said Mass, heard confessions and performed a wedding. The scam dated back to October 2014.
(Copyright 2016 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)