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July 16, 2010
By JOSEPH G. LARIOSA
(© 2010 Journal Group Link International)
CHICAGO (JGLi) – The Fifth Amendment prohibiting double jeopardy is dependent on the “identity of the offense, not the act.” Citing this precedent, the Court of Appeals of Virginia in Richmond has affirmed the “judgment of the trial court” and the conviction of Filipino Catholic priest Rodney Lee Rodis. Judge Jean Harrison Clements writing for the three-judge panel ruled that the “trial court did not err in denying the plea bar,” adding that “(a)lthough the federal charges required a showing that FiliRodis illegally obtained the money, the evidence necessary to prove the federal offenses was different from that required to prove the state offenses.
“Therefore, the acts involved in embezzling the funds were not the same as the acts of laundering the money and engaging in mail fraud.” Rodis’ lawyer, John “Jack” R. Maus filed an appeal to the ruling of Circuit Court of Louisa County Judge Timothy K. Sanner, who convicted Rodis last year to 13 years in prison for ten counts of embezzlement in violation of a state offense (Code § 18.2-111).
Prior to the state prosecution, Rodis entered guilty pleas to federal charges of mail fraud and money laundering in which Judge Richard L. Williams of Eastern District of Virginia in Richmond convicted him to serve 63 months that run consecutively with Judge Sanner’s 13 years sentence.
On appeal, Rodis contends that the state prosecutions were barred by the rule of double jeopardy “because the same acts constituted the bases for both prosecutions.” Under the state law, if the same act is a violation of two or more statutes, conviction under one of such statutes shall be a bar to a prosecution under the other or others. Additionally, if the same act is a violation of both a state and a federal statute, a prosecution under the federal statute shall be a bar to a prosecution under the state statute. In Rodis case, Rodis was prosecuted by the state after he was prosecuted under federal statutes. But Rodis was still prosecuted by the state because the “same evidence” used in the case “would not produce a conviction of both offenses.”
ELEVATES CASE TO VIRGINIA
SUPREME COURT
Rodis’ lawyer has now filed an appeal before the Supreme Court of Virginia. The 54-year-old priest and native of Cagayan de Oro City in the Philippines has also been ordered by Judge Sanner to pay restitution in the amount of $432,000 to his victims. In a previous interview with Attorney Maus, he told this reporter he will also anchor his appeal on the First Amendment right that prohibits the prosecution of someone whose conducts involve violations of church laws.
Maus believes that his client will still be able taste freedom, saying that if Rodis will be able to serve 85 percent of his sentence and turns 60 years old, he can be eligible for parole if he served 10 years or if he turns 65 and serves five years in prison. At the state trial, Rodis said he stole the money donated to the two churches at St. Jude Church in Mineral, Virginia, and at the Immaculate Conception Church at Bumpass, Virginia to help his family and others in his native Philippines. But Louisa Commonwealth’s Attorney Thomas A. Garrett Jr. said that Rodis invested in properties in the Philippines, including an upscale waterfront property. Deputy Prosecutor Rusty McGuire said Rodis also used the money to support his wife and three children. They were married in 1987 and lived in Fredericksburg with his family in violation of the vow of celibacy of the Catholic Church.
At the sentencing in 2008, Judge Williams told Rodis he was getting the “high end” of the guidelines of the sentence because of his great breach of trust to both the Church and the parishioners.
ASKED FORGIVENESS FROM JUDGE AND HIS PARISHIONERS
Rodis asked for forgiveness from the judge and the parishioners present during the sentencing. He also asked for leniency because of his medical condition, referring to his pancreatic cancer. But the judge said Rodis had made no effort to own up his mistakes. The prosecutors said Rodis was not forthcoming in giving up his embezzled property, including a beach house. Court records showed that Rodis has a wife, Joyce Flores Sillador-Rodis, and they had two biological children residing at 5904 Watson Lane, Fredericksburg, Virginia. Rodis was employed as a Catholic priest at St. Jude Church at 1937 Davis Highway, Mineral, Virginia, and at another church, the Immaculate Conception Church at Bumpass, Virginia. Both churches are under the Richmond Catholic Diocese. The indictment papers added that Rodis “solicited contributions (amounting to $600,000) from parishioners to support church expenses, including building debt reduction, cemetery funds, religious education and other church operations.” The scheme to defraud started from “September 2002, and continued through in or about 2006.”
(lariosa_jos@sbcglobal.net)