Connecticut priest pleads guilty to obstruction

by Tom Gallagher

Join the Conversation

Former Rev. Michael Moynihan, a pastor who resigned from a Greenwich church in 2007 amid allegations that he diverted hundreds of thousands of dollars in church funds to pay for personal expenses, pleaded guilty Thursday to federal obstruction of justice.

Moynihan entered the plea in federal court in New Haven, admitting he lied to federal investigators looking into the alleged fraud. When he is sentenced, Moynihan faces a maximum of 20 years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000.

Formerly the pastor of St. Michael the Archangel Roman Catholic Church, Moynihan diverted parish funds toward paying his credit card bills and other personal reimbursements and may have engaged in forgery and other forms of deception, according to findings of an investigation made public in 2008.