Pennsylvania Priest Funnels $40K of Church Funds Into Mario Kart—Judge Lets Him Walk
A Pennsylvania priest has admitted to stealing tens of thousands of dollars from his parish to fund his addiction to mobile gaming apps and gifts, but will not face prison time after reaching a plea agreement.
Father Lawrence Kozak, 52, was sentenced to 80 hours of community service and ordered to write a formal letter of apology to the congregation of St. Thomas More Church in Pottstown, Pennsylvania, the Daily Mail reports.
He pleaded guilty to siphoning approximately $40,000 from church funds using a parish-issued credit card.
Court documents reveal that the funds were spent on mobile game apps including “Candy Crush,” “Mario Kart,” “Cash Frenzy,” “Wizard of Oz Slot Machine Game” and “Willy Wonka Vegas Casino Slots”—games that require real money for in-game upgrades or virtual currency but do not offer real cash returns.
Kozak also used the money to buy gifts for his niece, including a chemistry set and an Amazon Fire tablet.
The misuse of funds was discovered during a 2022 financial review conducted by a church accountant.
Kozak initially denied knowledge of the improper transactions but later acknowledged that his inattentiveness may have led to the misuse of the parish credit card.
“I’m not a details guy,” Kozak reportedly told investigators, admitting that he may have accidentally used the church account while making in-game purchases.
He has since repaid the full amount and is currently undergoing counseling for what he described as a gaming addiction.
“I allowed my playing of games to get away from me, and due to lack of attentiveness failed in my responsibility to be vigilant over the administrative part of my responsibilities,” Kozak said in court.
“I am deeply sorry for the pain and difficulty that was caused to the parishioners of St. Thomas More. No matter what, I should have been more attentive, and in that sense I truly failed.”
Kozak attributed his behavior in part to personal trauma, citing the stress of the COVID-19 pandemic, the death of his father and ongoing physical pain stemming from a 2016 car crash that led to a partial leg amputation.
He has been placed on administrative leave and is under a canonical investigation, according to Ken Gavin, a spokesperson for the Archdiocese of Philadelphia.
Kozak has also been barred from holding any future positions involving financial oversight.
Despite his apology and restitution, the advocacy group Catholics4Change expressed strong disapproval over the incident and the church’s handling of it.
In a statement, the group dismissed Kozak’s courtroom apology as insufficient and criticized the Archdiocese for elevating him to the high position.
“Kozak’s apology in court was hopefully serenaded by violins,” the group wrote, per the Daily Mail. “The real apology should be coming from Archbishop Nelson Perez, who promoted and installed Kozak to pastor of St Thomas More in July 2020.”
The statement further claimed that the priest should never have been given a leadership role in the first place, saying, “With the current priest shortage and the ‘have a pulse, get a parish’ way that priests are promoted to pastors, Kozak’s 2020 promotion is surprising—even in an Archdiocese that always manages to scrape the bottom of the barrel and have unsuspecting parishioners pay the consequences.”
The Archdiocese has not issued a public statement regarding the criticism or the sentencing.
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