Catholic priest Kevin Wallin, who was arrested in 2013 for setting up a methamphetamine distribution ring, received a surprising outpouring of support on Thursday as he waited for his sentence. Around 75 people crowded in the courtroom while others stayed outside.
Even U.S. District Judge Alfred V. Covello, who was to pronounce the sentence on Wallin, commented that the support the suspended priest received was unlike "anything I have ever seen."
However, that was not enough to sway the judge from giving him a prison sentence of five years and six months. "For you, sir, this is an unhappy day," he told Wallin, according to Fox News.
Since his arrest in 2013, Wallin has not denied his guilt. "The day I was arrested was a very good day," he told the judge. "It took me out of that situation."
Wallin pleaded guilty to charges of meth distribution. According to authorities, the suspended priest had been getting methamphetamine from contacts in California since 2008. In a period of about two years, he was already selling meth right out of his Waterbury, Conn. apartment.
Authorities also said Wallin bought "Land of Oz and Dorothy's Place," a sex store in North Haven, to launder his earnings from selling drugs, NBC Connecticut reported.
Wallin's lawyer, Kelly Barrett, appealed to the judge in March to treat him with leniency on the basis of the charitable acts he had done in the past years when he served as priest.
"The record evidence demonstrates that Kevin Wallin is an extraordinary man whose remarkable character and acts have touched thousands of people," she said.
Many others called on Judge Covello to do the same; the judge received more than 80 letters, including a letter from the late Cardinal Edward Egan, under whom Wallin previously served as secretary.
In light of these letters, Judge Covello told Wallin, "I cannot ignore your decision to infect your community with methamphetamine," NBC Connecticut reported.
"Our humanity is our greatest strength and also our greatest weakness. We paint the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel and then we become involved in mind-altering chemicals," the judge said in the courtroom, CT Post reported.
Wallin has already served 28 months behind bars and will stay in prison for three more years.
