Woman accused of stealing $180K from Rochester church agrees to pay $250K restitution
Patricia Radich / Olmsted County Adult Detention Center
(ABC 6 News) – A woman accused of embezzling about $183,000 from a Rochester church pleaded guilty to 8 of 12 charges and agreed to pay more than $251,000 in restitution Thursday, March 9.
Patricia Radich, 64, was accused of eight counts of theft by swindle and four counts of theft between 2016 and 2019, after Trinity Lutheran Church held a fundraiser and raised about $1.5 million for renovations in the fall of 2015.
Radich, the former church treasurer, allegedly began writing herself checks from the church “three or four times” a month beginning in 2016.
Radich allegedly admitted to the thefts on May 14, 2020, the day before she was scheduled to turn over the church’s financial ledge for an overdue financial audit.
According to court documents, Radich wrote “gambling addiction” below the numbers on a spreadsheet of the thefts she made herself and presented to the church leadership.
Radich pleaded guilty to the eight counts of theft by swindle, in exchange for the four charges of thefts’ dismissal, a sentence of probation, and an agreement to pay the church $251,167.47 on a schedule to be decided by Radich and Dodge and Olmsted County corrections.
Her sentencing is scheduled for April 24, 2023.