Authorities are investigating the gaming and spending patterns of a Catholic priest from Erie, Pennsylvania, who confessed to manipulating a church raffle for a Chevy Corvette Stingray 1LT.

The 42-year-old priest of St. Jude the Apostle Church, the Rev. Ross R. Miceli, is referred to by his flock as Fr. Ross. The church sponsored a raffle in December 2024 to collect money for the parish.

The goal was to generate $500K by selling 1,000 tickets, which cost $50 apiece.  The winner could pick between $50K in cash or the $82K sports automobile.

According to the tournament rules, a computer would randomly allocate numbers to ticket holders.  The winning number in the Pick 4 Pennsylvania Lottery draw on Christmas Eve has to match the winning four-digit number.

The fortunate "Winner"

On Christmas Day, St. Jude announced the fortunate winner as Martin Anderson in a post on its Facebook page.  According to the Facebook post, Anderson, who is allegedly from Detroit, chose to accept the cash option.

The only issue was that there was no Anderson.  Miceli is charged with creating the name and the names of other winners of secondary prizes.

After a St. Jude whistleblower raised issues with Bishop Lawrence T. Persico, the Erie County District Attorney's Office launched an investigation against the priest.

Beginning in mid-March, the DA's Office executed several search warrants on St. Jude's offices.  In an interview with investigators, Miceli admitted to "publicly falsifying the results of the grand prize winner," according to one of the warrants.

Additionally, he acknowledged transferring funds from the raffle account to another account that St Jude also controlled.

According to new search warrants, GoErie says investigators are now investigating the pastor's financial and gambling activities, including his purchase of "a new Tesla, expensive electronics, high-end footwear, designer clothes, and Disney collectibles."

The only person in charge of St. Jude's finances was Miceli.  According to the warrants, investigators are looking into transactions the church made between January 2024 and March 2025 to settle American Express credit card debts totaling more than $300,000.

Not billed

Since being appointed pastor of St. Jude in July 2022, Miceli has not faced any criminal charges.  The Catholic Diocese of Erie has announced that he will be moved out of the parish on August 12 to help priests in other parishes.

“The Diocese of Erie is aware of an active investigation involving St. Jude the Apostle Parish and its pastor, Fr. Ross Miceli,” the diocese said in a statement. “We are committed to transparency, and we are cooperating fully with the appropriate authorities. At this time, we cannot provide further information as the investigation is ongoing.”