Countywide : Simi Valley Priest Appears in Court on Embezzling Charges

A Simi Valley priest accused of embezzling thousands of dollars in collection money from two churches where he served as assistant pastor appeared in Ventura County Superior Court Wednesday to answer a county grand jury indictment on two counts of grand theft.

Father David Dean Piroli, 36, waived speedy arraignment to which he was entitled and agreed to enter a plea on the felony charges at an arraignment next Wednesday.

One count accuses Piroli of stealing collection money from Sacred Heart Church in Saticoy between Sept. 1, 1986, the day he began his first assignment following ordination, and July 2, 1990, the day he was transferred to St. Peter Claver Church in Simi Valley.

The other accuses Piroli of stealing collection money from St. Peter Claver between the date of his transfer and May 29, 1992, the same week that Hollywood police arrested him in the church car with a small amount of cocaine and $10,000 cash, including church collection envelopes.

A search of his rooms uncovered $50,000 more in small bills, more envelopes and uncashed donation checks from parishioners.

Prosecutors say they will drop a charge of receiving stolen property, which stemmed from the discovery in Piroli’s room of a stolen volume of original letters written by MotherCabrini, America’s first saint.

Deputy Dist. Atty. Mary Peace declined to say why the grand jury did not indict Piroli on that charge, which was filed last month in Municipal Court.

Piroli is being held in lieu of $100,000 bail in Ventura County Jail, pending arraignment.

In its investigation, the grand jury interviewed church officials, Auxiliary Bishop G. Patrick Ziemann, police officers and bank officials. The grand jury also interviewed Piroli, who declined to answer questions that he believed would violate his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination.