SIMI VALLEY : Priest Denies New Charge in Theft Case

A Simi Valley priest accused of embezzling parishioners’ collection money appeared in Ventura County Superior Court on Wednesday, surrounded by supporters, to deny a new allegation.

Prosecutors filed a special allegation of excessive taking against Father David Dean Piroli, alleging that the Roman Catholic priest took more than $50,000 from St. Peter Claver Church in Simi Valley, where he served as assistant pastor for two years.

Piroli, 36, denied the allegation. Judge Allan Steele set Jan. 25 as the trial date for him to face two felony counts of grand theft by embezzlement for allegedly stealing nearly $60,000 from St. Peter Claver and from Sacred Heart Church in Saticoy.

If proven along with the St. Peter Claver charge, the special allegation would add a year to Piroli’s sentence, bringing the possible maximum prison term to four years and eight months, said Deputy Dist. Atty. Mary Peace.

Richard Beada, Piroli’s attorney, said he is seeking evidence of improper or sloppy bookkeeping by St. Peter Claver’s staff that could help to exonerate his client. However, he declined to give details. “I think the case will start to heat up in the next couple of months,” Beada told reporters. “If what I’m working on pans out, you’ll have yourself a major scandal.”

Before appearing in court, Piroli waited outside the courtroom wearing his priest’s collar and a black nylon jacket, laughing and joking with nearly a dozen supporters who clustered around him to block a photographer’s view. “I have no comments,” he told a reporter.

Beada said Piroli has received “an amazing amount of letters from people that support him.”