A priest serving in the Piedmont
town of Stresa has been arrested on suspicion of drug possession
for dealing after being discovered at a 'cocaine party' in
Milan, judicial sources said.
Police detained Don Stefano Maria Cavalletti, 45, after
being called out to investigate noise and shouting during a
party in Piazza Anghilberto last Thursday.
There they found traces of white powder throughout the
apartment, with the majority in the lavatory together with the
priest's shredded passport.
Don Stefano told police he had started to use cocaine as a
form of 'self-treatment' for depression after first running into
trouble with the law.
Last September he was convicted by a court of first
instance of fraud against an elderly woman whom he allegedly
convinced to pay 22,000 euros into his bank account.
The diocese of Novara announced Don Stefano's arrest on
Tuesday evening but said it did not know the reason for the
provision, entrusting him "to the Lord in prayer" pending
"clarification".
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