Chester County priest pleads guilty to stealing $40K from parish to play video games
The Rev. Lawrence Kozak was sentenced to two years of probation for using the money from St. Thomas More Church to "power up" in mobile games he was playing.
A Catholic priest assigned to a parish in Pottstown has been sentenced to two years of probation for siphoning $40,000 in church funds to play mobile games including Candy Crush and Mario Kart.
The Rev. Lawrence Kozak, 52, pleaded guilty to theft by receiving stolen property during a hearing late last week in West Chester for his crimes, which occurred between 2019 and 2022 while he worked at St. Thomas More Church.
Chester County prosecutors said Kozak used a credit card given to him for parish expenses to fund his video-game addiction, making what investigators described in court filings as “an astronomical amount of Apple transactions.”
He also used the card to purchase gifts for his niece, including a backpack, Amazon Fire tablet, and chemistry set, according to the affidavit of probable cause for his arrest.
Kozak told Chester County Court Judge Alita Rovito that stresses in his life at the time, including the death of his father and isolation during the COVID-19 pandemic, “exacerbated nerve and phantom pain” he was experiencing in his partially-amputated leg, which he lost after a car hit him in 2016.
“I allowed my playing of games to get away from me, and due to lack of attentiveness failed in my responsibility to be vigilant over the administrative part of my responsibilities,” Kozak said.
“I am deeply sorry for the pain and difficulty that was caused to the parishioners of St. Thomas More,” he added. “No matter what, I should have been more attentive, and in that sense I truly failed.”
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Kozak’s attorney, Joseph Poluka, said that his client has made full restitution to St. Thomas More and that he is looking forward to putting the case behind him and moving on with his life.
As a condition of his plea, Kozak must perform 80 hours of community service and write a letter apologizing to parishioners at St. Thomas More. He is also barred from holding a position of financial responsibility without oversight and disclosure of his theft conviction.
Ken Gavin, a spokesperson for the Archdiocese of Philadelphia, said in a statement Monday that Kozak remains on administrative leave, which he was placed on in 2022 after his improper spending came to light. The archdiocese has begun a canonical investigation into Kozak’s conduct, according to Gavin.
An accountant working for St. Thomas More discovered Kozak’s theft while reviewing the parish’s finances in 2022, the affidavit said. The purchases began in September 2019, not long after Kozak joined the parish, and ended in July 2022, the affidavit said.
When interviewed by detectives in 2022, Kozak said he was seeking counseling for his addiction to playing and spending money on online games, according to the affidavit. He said the money was used to “power up” — gain an advantage in the games he was playing.
Kozak denied intentionally using the parish credit cards for those purchases, but conceded that it was possible he had used the cards accidentally, saying he was not “a details guy,” the affidavit said.
Catholics4Change, an advocacy group that pushes for accountability for priests accused of crimes, said in a statement that Kozak’s arrest demonstrates the Archdiocese of Philadelphia’s “impaired oversight of priests.”
“With the current 17% Mass attendance rate, the Archdiocese is encouraging everyone to return,” said Kathy Kane, a cofounder of the group. ”There has been no change in the clerical culture or the lack of oversight that allows crimes to happen for years before being caught.
“They do not deserve the trust that is being asked and advertised.”