N.J. priest pleads guilty to stealing $2 million

RUMSON, N.J. — So just how does a parish priest pay for luxury cars, fancy dinners, flamboyant jewelry, a country club membership, long vacations in Florida and other conspicuous luxuries?

Joseph W. Hughes, the former pastor of Holy Cross Roman Catholic Church in Rumson, N.J., admitted in court May 4 that he did it by stealing more than $2 million from his well-to-do parishioners.

Hughes, 61, pleaded guilty to taking the money and failing to report it on his tax returns. Under terms of his plea arrangement, he will be sentenced to five years in prison when he next appears in court June 2. The embezzlement was discovered in November 2004 — 16 years after he became pastor at the church — during a routine audit by the Diocese of Trenton.

Hughes had pleaded guilty to theft by deception, filing a fraudulent tax return and failing to pay state taxes. The theft charge, a second-degree offense, could have subjected him to 10 years in prison, and the tax charge could have tacked on another 10.

Hughes resigned his position Nov. 3, 2004, the day before his arrest, and Bishop John M. Smith revoked his priestly faculties. That prevents Hughes from presenting himself as a priest, from wearing the religious collar or from performing any priestly functions.