Appeal of priest convicted of embezzling to be heard

Former Catholic priest Rodney L. Rodis, convicted of embezzling $600,000 to $1 million from his churches, has been granted an appeal by the Virginia Court of Appeals.

The court agreed to consider whether his federal mail-fraud and money-laundering convictions barred his prosecution in Louisa County Circuit Court, said his lawyer, John R. Maus.

Earlier this year, Rodis was sentenced to 13 years in state prison for stealing from two parishes where he served as pastor. Rodis, who led a secret life as a married man, will serve that sentence after he completes a five-year prison term in the related federal case.

In February 2008, he was sentenced to 63 months in federal prison by a U.S. District Court judge. He was convicted by a Louisa County jury in October 2008 of 10 felony theft counts. All but 13 years of the jury's 200-year recommended sentence were suspended.

Maus, who also represented Rodis in his Louisa trial, said the next step is for written briefs to be filed and the case will be set for oral argument. Rodis is serving his federal sentence in North Carolina, Maus said.

David Clementson, spokesman for the Virginia Attorney General's office, said, "At the appropriate time, we will file our brief on behalf of the commonwealth."

-- Frank Green