I know there are different gods for everyone, but I've got a feeling none of them would be chill with rigging a charity church raffle to get a C8 Corvette Convertible. Well, that's exactly what one pastor in Erie, Pennsylvania, allegedly did. Rev. Ross R. Miceli is accused of fabricating the name of the Corvette raffle winner, as well as the winners of other smaller prizes.
Now, the Erie County District Attorney's Office is investigating the St. Jude the Apostle Church Reverand, alleging that he rigged the Corvette raffle, tampered with its records and even committed theft, according to the Erie Times-News. Miceli admitted to moving money from the car raffle account to another account, claiming this other account — under the church's name — was interest-bearing. It wasn't just the Corvette raffle, though. He also reportedly made up some of the winners for $500 prizes that were offered. During an interview with detectives, the 42-year-old admitted to choosing the $500 winners who were all family friends or his favorite parishioners.
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How We Got Here
Last year, St. June the Apostle Church kicked off a raffle to raise money for the parish. Its goal was to sell 9,999 tickets at $50 a pop to hopefully raise about $500,000, according to the Erie Times-News. The grand prize was the aforementioned Corvette Convertible 1LT, but there were other smaller prizes that led up to the Christmas Eve Corvette drawing. Ticket holders were assigned random numbers via the computer, and the four-digit number on the winning ticket had to match the winning number in that evening's Pick 4 Pennsylvania Lottery drawing.
The number drawn, 5851, was assigned to Martin Anderson of Detroit. He was named the winner on the raffle's Facebook page and decided to take the $50,000 cash prize rather than the convertible. There was just one issue: Anderson never bought a ticket. So, not only is he lame for taking the money, he's a cheat (allegedly)!
Surprise, surprise. Miceli is leaving the church as the investigation continues, according to the Times-News. He will be heading to a couple of smaller churches southeast of Erie. There's no word yet on what sort of punishment he could be facing.
h/t: Road & Track
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