Convicted Priest Dies In Prison

BRIDGEPORT (AP) — The Roman Catholic priest who pleaded guilty to stealing more than $1 million from a Darien parish to support a lavish lifestyle died Saturday, the Diocese of Bridgeport said.

The Rev. Michael Jude Fay, 58, died on Saturday morning, the diocese said. Diocese spokesman Joseph McAleer said Fay’s death was announced during Mass at St John Roman Catholic Church in Darien, where he served before being convicted in December 2007 on a fraud charge.

Fay served at St Rose of Lima Parish in Newtown from 1977 to 1986. He served there as a deacon for one year and then as an assistant pastor for eight years.

Calls were left seeking comment with Fay’s attorney and with officials at Butner Federal Correctional Complex in North Carolina, where Fay was serving a 37-month prison sentence.

Authorities say Fay stole about $1.3 million over seven years and used church money for limousines, stays at top hotels around the world, jewelry and clothing from Italy.

The priest set up secret bank accounts and shopped at Bergdorf Goodman, Saks Fifth Avenue and Nordstrom, drove a Jaguar, attended a sports club, bought jewelry from Cartier, spent $130,000 for limo rides for himself and his mother, and stayed at hotels such as the Ritz Carlton, Hotel De Paris and the Four Seasons Hotel, according to a report by diocese investigators.

Fay had been undergoing treatment for prostate cancer and had asked to be spared prison time because of the illness. A judge had granted him a delay until July to report to prison while he was taking an experimental cancer drug.

Fay’s attorney has said that Fay would die behind bars if he could not complete his treatment at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York because treatment was not available in prison.

Fay’s death came a day after a judge refused to dismiss a suit against the diocese by a former bookkeeper at St John Roman Catholic Church. Bethany D’Erario says she was harassed for exposing Fay’s crimes.