“Meisch” is virtually always going to be a Jewish surname.
It might sound strange for a Jew to be working for a Catholic church, but he was a “business manager.” He could be alienated from his roots, and claim to be a Catholic.
Or, maybe he’s a goy. Who knows.
Horrible thing to do.
Federal prosecutors have charged a former New Orleans police lieutenant with bilking a Roman Catholic church where he worked of almost $330,000, nine years after a peripheral role in the Henry Glover civil rights case cost him his job on the force.
Joseph Meisch, business manager of St. Patrick’s Church in the Central Business District, used credit cards belonging to the church to buy himself sporting goods and other personal items and transferred church money into his personal account for about three years beginning in July 2015, the U.S. attorney’s office alleged. He also wrote unauthorized checks from the bank to himself and his security company and transferred money from St. Patrick’s PayPal account to himself, ultimately taking $329,856, prosecutors said in court documents.
The U.S. attorney’s office singled out one alleged purchase, using a church credit card to buy a gun and other sporting goods in August 2017.
Prosecutors charged Meisch with one count of wire fraud in a bill of information on Wednesday. Bills of information are generally a sign that a defendant intends to plead guilty rather than stand trial.
Meisch, 45, could face as long as 20 years in prison if convicted, although maximum sentences in federal court are rare for first-time offenders. His arraignment is tentatively scheduled Oct. 13.
Attempts to contact Meisch, who lives in Destrehan were unsuccessful Friday.
Archdiocese of New Orleans spokeswoman Sarah McDonald said church officials have “worked with and cooperated with law enforcement” in its investigation of Meisch. “And we pledge our ongoing cooperation as we move forward,” McDonald said.
The case against Meisch comes as the archdiocese moves through Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings in federal court. In seeking protection from creditors, the archdiocese cites a financial downturn from litigation associated with the church’s clergy abuse scandal as well as the coronavirus pandemic.
Meisch had previously been involved in a scandal in New Orleans, which led to his firing from the police. During the fallout from Hurricane Katrina, cops killed a black guy and then put him in a truck and set it on fire, and Meisch failed to report it. That might sound BASED, but seriously – most cops are just totally unethical and amoral, and only kill blacks because they’re their own enemy, not because they want to protect America. It’s a criminal gang fighting another criminal gang.
I am a right-winger, so I support authority based on principle, and I do support the cops in theory. But the fact is, most of these people are not good people. That’s primarily a result of how society has treated the institution.
You’re always going to have a problem with people who seek positions of authority having low ethics. But what we have done in America by demonizing the police, hassling them every step of the way, has ensured that virtually only low quality people are going to be willing to get involved in this profession, risking their lives for so little pay.