Okemos priest charged with embezzlement of more than $100K
MASON -- An Okemos priest arrested Saturday on the 39th anniversary of his ordination was charged Monday afternoon with embezzlement from his church.
The Rev. Jonathan Wayne Wehrle, 66, was arrested Saturday at his home in Williamston. He was charged Monday with embezzlement of $100,000 or more in 55th District Court in Mason.
He faces up to 20 years in prison if convicted. Magistrate Mark Blumer set bond at $5,000.
"I've known Father for almost 30 years, he's not a thief and he is not an embezzler," said Wehrle's attorney, Lawrence Nolan. "This is a guy who dedicated his life to the Catholic Church."
The Catholic Diocese of Lansing announced last week that Wehrle, the founding pastor of St. Martha Parish in Okemos, was placed on administrative leave May 9 during an investigation into "possible significant embezzlement" at the church.
A statement from the diocese said the possible embezzlement was uncovered by independent auditors and referred to police.
Detective First Lt. Thomas DeClercq, commander of the Michigan State Police 1st District special investigations section, said his unit has worked closely with the diocese to expedite imaging of computers so as not to interfere with school or administrative functions of the church.
DeClercq said the investigation into embezzlement at the church is ongoing and additional charges are anticipated.
Blumer, during Wehrle’s arraignment, said the embezzlement charge stems from actions between Jan. 1, 2012 and April of this year at St. Martha Parish.
Wehrle is scheduled to appear before Judge Thomas Boyd on June 1 for a hearing to determine whether there is enough evidence to proceed to trial. Conditions of his bond prohibit him from transferring money in any account, or withdrawing more than $500 from any account.
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State police arrested Wehrle Saturday at his Williamston home, where he lives with his sister and 90-year-old mother. Nolan said Saturday was Wehrle’s 39th anniversary of his ordination as priest.
Wehrle also has three adopted adult sons, Nolan said.
"I’ve known him for a long time," Nolan, a parishioner at St. Martha, said. "I trust him 100%. Not only is he presumed innocent at this time, but I think eventually he will be exonerated."
Nolan said Wehrle has independent family money, including funds from the recent sale of his mother’s home in Jackson County.
A State Journal review of Wehrle’s property records indicate a home owned by Jonathan W. Wehrle and Dorothy I. Wehrle in Pleasant Lake in Jackson County sold for at least $700,000 in March.
Property records also indicate Jonathan W. Wehrle or the Jonathan W. Wehrle Trust has ownership in three properties along Noble Road in Williamston, including a $1.48 million home which Wehrle listed as his address in court Monday.
Records also indicate the Jonathan W. Wehrle Trust received a total of $610,000 on the sale of two other pieces of property along Noble Road in 2004 and 2006.
Wehrle or his trust also were listed as owners of at least six parcels in Highlands County, Florida that sold for a total of $725,000 between 2004 and 2006, according to Florida property records.
In 1988, the Diocese of Lansing sold Wehrle property on Van Atta Road in Meridian Township for $17,725, according to a warranty deed signed by then-Bishop Kenneth Povish.
The property was sold two years later for $370,000, according to county records.
Wehrle founded St. Martha Parish in 1988. According to the diocese, he had planned to retire on June 28.
Contact Reporter Beth LeBlanc at 517-377-1167 oreleblanc@gannett.com. Follow her on Twitter @LSJBethLeBlanc.