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While the long process of receiving justice for the thousands of Catholics who live in the Diocese of Steubenville moved another step closer to being resolved Monday, there are still questions that must be answered.
A big step in that direction happened Monday, when David Franklin, the former comptroller of the diocese, entered into a plea deal in Jefferson County Common Pleas Court.
The list of illegal activities committed by Franklin is long, and includes falsification, theft of funds and the defrauding of creditors. And for all of that, Jefferson County Common Pleas Judge Michelle Miller sentenced the 69-year-old Franklin to 18 months in state prison and ordered him to pay $532,115 in restitution. The first 366 days of his sentence will be spent in federal prison, time he received in July after admitting to embezzling nearly $300,000 during a nine-year period that started in 2008.
It all marks a sad ending for a career that ran from 1985 until his retirement in 2017. That's when the diocese claimed it had discovered "irregularities" in Franklin's accounting records and financial reports, after an independent accounting company had determined $2.8 million in payroll taxes had been collected but never turned over to the Internal Revenue Service. As a result, the diocese had to liquidate unrestricted investments to cover the tax debt and $999, 713 in interest and penalties that were due to the IRS.
While there are those who might think Franklin got off lightly, prosecutors say that is not the case. The former comptroller will now offer testimony, documents and a debriefing that will help them determine whether other people benefited from Franklin's financial misconduct. He will be expected to help prosecutors determine what was criminal mismanagement and what was pure theft. Prosecutors also pointed to Franklin's lack of prior offenses and a lack of oversight on the part of the diocese during his 32 years as comptroller as factors in the sentencing.
Among those who will be targeted, Assistant Prosecutor Frank Bruzzese said, will be employees who received what have been described as "ungodly" bonuses.
Some employees, it was said, received between $128,000 and $221,000 in bonus payments during a 14-year period -- in addition to a $300,000 bonus Franklin paid to himself.
An important part of unraveling of that puzzle appears to be an account that was left open at Chase Bank when the diocese moved its operating funds to PNC Bank in 2010. That Chase account, Bruzzese told Miller, was nothing more than a slush fund run off the books and used to divert money from the diocese.
Attention now, apparently, will focus on the role Monsignor Kurt Kemo might have played in the matter. The former vicar general and chief financial officer of the diocese, Kemo was the longtime pastor as Blessed Sacrament and Our Lady of Lourdes parishes in Wintersville until his abrupt resignation on May 26.
At the time, references were made to "the scandal caused by financial irregularities in the Diocese of Steubenville."
Franklin's attorney, Robert McBride, and Bruzzese said they share a passion for digging further into the case and determining who else needs to pay. Bruzzese, for his part, indicated after Monday's sentencing that, with Franklin's help, he hoped to be able to bring a quick resolution to the situation.
We hope Bruzzese is right, but we are left to wonder exactly how so much money could have been diverted from the diocese for such a long period. According to Bruzzese, there is no evidence that an audit or independent review had been done for four years prior to Franklin's retirement. That, coupled with the acknowledgment of the lack of oversight over Franklin during his entire career, is very troubling.
Those are questions Bishop Jeffrey Monforton, who was installed on Sept. 10, 2012, and his predecessors should have to answer.
Monforton said it is important to regain the trust of the thousands of parishioners who live in the 13 counties of Southeastern Ohio that make up the diocese.
It's a process that will take time, but one that is necessary to ensure Catholics in our region that their donations and support for the church and the diocese will be used to help others and not line the pockets of those in authority.