A year after an Erie Roman Catholic church held a Corvette raffle that went awry, the parish has begun the process of refunding those who bought the tickets.
St. Jude the Apostle Church is accepting refund requests through Jan. 3, the Catholic Diocese of Erie said in a Dec. 7 statement to the Erie Times-News.
St. Jude has revised plans for refunds since August, and the diocese has considered reinstating the raffle. The diocese opted for refunds because “a legally compliant raffle reinstatement is not possible under Pennsylvania’s Small Games of Chance law,” the statement said.
St. Jude Catholic Church, 2801 W. Sixth St. of Millcreek Township is refunding ticket holders in an errant 2024 raffle.
The diocese also said that “there is insufficient information to conduct a new raffle that would give every participant an equal chance of winning.”
St. Jude offers the refunds because his former pastor, Rev. Ross R. Miceli, remains under criminal investigation on allegations that he defrauded the raffle and improperly spent parish funds.
The church says the bishop supports the repayment program
Tickets for the St. raffle Jude Winavettes cost $50 and the grand prize was a new Corvette Stingray or $50,000 in cash. The grand prize took place on Christmas Eve 2024.
The criminal investigation revealed that Miceli gave the $50,000 to someone he said lived in Detroit but did not exist, according to search warrants the Erie County District Attorney’s office filed in the investigation. The investigation is ongoing and no charges have been filed.
St. Jude set out to sell 10,000 tickets for the 2024 raffle – an annual event that has been the main fundraiser for the church at 2801W. Sixth St. of Millcreek Township, one of the largest parishes in the 13-county Catholic Diocese of Erie. The parish did not hold any car raffles in 2025.
Erie Catholic Bishop Lawrence T. Persico placed Miceli on leave without a mission on Aug. 7 in response to the raffle revelations, which the Erie Times-News first reported on Aug. 6.
Persico and his administration initiated the prosecution and consulted with St. Jude regarding the refund process. An independent accounting firm, HBK, is handling the refunds, the diocese said.
The diocese said St. Jude’s new pastor, the Rev. Michael Polinek, has been working with the diocese, HBK and the District Attorney’s Office since August and now has all the information for the parish to begin providing refunds.
A 2024 Chevrolet Corvette Stingray sports car was stored outside a garage at St. Jude the Apostle in Millcreek Township on August 12. The car was the grand prize of the Roman Catholic church’s 2024 raffle, in which the pastor at the time told investigators he made up the name of the winner.
The parish, not the diocese, is responsible for refunds, according to the diocese. The diocese said St. Jude parishioners were informed of the refund process at Masses this weekend.
“With the full support of our bishop and to ensure full compliance with the laws relating to the Lottery, we have determined that the most responsible and compliant course of action is to issue full refunds for the 2024 Winavette car raffle,” Polinek said in the Dec. 7 statement. “I am grateful for the community’s understanding and trust as we work through this process with full transparency.”
What is the process to get a refund?
The diocese said ticket holders can request refunds by phone or email: 888-341-6210 or 814-217-8901 or stjude.refund2024@outlook.com. The ticket holder must provide a ticket stub or other proof of purchase. The diocese has created a website to guide ticket holders through the process at eriercd.org/refund.html.
St. Jude no longer has the Corvette, which the parish displayed at the corner of West Sixth Street and Peninsula Drive in the months leading up to the raffle.
St. Jude sold the Corvette, an orange 2024 Stingray 1LT, back to the dealer, Hallman Chevrolet of Erie, Erie accountant Jim Schaffner told the Erie Times-News in August. Schaffner assisted the diocese at the beginning of the sweepstakes investigation.
St. Jude bought the car before the raffle, Schaffner said in August. He said the Corvette cost $82,000 and Hallman bought it back for $60,000.
Erie Catholic Lawrence T. Persico initiated the criminal investigation into the 2024 car raffle at the Church of St. Jude the Apostle of Millcreek Township.
If Hallman sold the Corvette for more than $60,000, Hallman agreed to donate the extra money to St. Jude, Schaffner said. He said that St. Jude plans to use the proceeds of the sale and any other money from Hallman to cover the repayments.
Key Evidence of Fake Winner in Lottery Fraud Investigation
The Catholic Diocese of Erie began prosecuting Miceli in February, according to search warrants filed in the case by the District Attorney’s Office. Warrants show the diocese contacted the district attorney after an employee at St. Jude expressed concern about the raffle and after Miceli then told Persico that he made up the name of the grand prize winner – “Martin Anderson”, from Detroit.
Miceli said Anderson chose the $50,000 instead of the Corvette, but that the $50,000 remained in a St. Louis account. Jude, according to the warrants.
The lottery investigation has expanded to examine the finances of St. Jude under Miceli, the pastor from July 2022 to August 2024.
Using search warrants issued in March and June, detectives from the District Attorney’s Office seized financial records related to the sweepstakes, as well as records related to $300,000 in spending with an American Express card between January 2024 and March 2025, according to the search warrants. The money to pay the credit card bills, according to the warrants, came out of church accounts that Miceli controlled himself.
Detectives subpoenaed Miceli’s assets — such as a new Tesla, several pairs of expensive sneakers and other shoes, Disney collectibles and casino membership cards — to establish probable cause to obtain bank and American Express account records. Detectives also found membership cards to at least a dozen casinos when they searched the St. Jude offices and the parish house where Miceli lived, according to the warrants.
“All of these behaviors appear inconsistent with his modest income and reported living expenses, which are largely covered by the church,” according to the probable cause affidavit for one of the warrants.
Contact Ed Palattella at epalattella@usatodayco.com or 814-870-1813.
This article originally appeared on the Erie Times-News: Erie Catholic Church launches refund program for defective car raffle