A Pennsylvania pastor, Ross Miceli, was placed on administrative leave because of his involvement in a rigged fundraiser lottery that led to DA investigations into his gambling habits.
The church fundraiser, organized in December 2024, offered a new Corvette or a $50,000 cash alternative as its top prize. Miceli announced a winner named Martin Anderson on Christmas Day, later discovered to have not existed, which caused suspicions to arise.
Key takeaways
- A pastor was found to have announced a non-existent winner for a raffle last December.
- AMEX charges from the church of over $300,000 are under investigation, along with the pastor's gambling habits.
- The priest hasn't yet been charged.
Millcreek Justice Laurie Mikielski released an affidavit earlier in the year where Miceli admitted he didn't distribute the grand prize and confessed to awarding other prizes to friends and favored parishioners.
It was also found Micelli was in charge of the church's finances, and investigators were probing transactions on the church’s AMEX card totaling over $300,000 between January 2024 and March 2025.
When the church's office and rectory were searched in February, investigators found high-end resort and casino membership cards, a new Tesla, Disney collectibles, and other expensive items.
The pastor has since been placed on administrative leave and won't return to church duties, and charges have yet to be filed.
New Pennsylvania law gives lottery players higher payouts
While Miceli is under investigation for his involvement in a fraudulent lottery, Pennsylvania State Lottery players will now see higher prizes.
Gov. Josh Shapiro recently signed a new bill, HB1058, that lets the Pennsylvania Lottery offer more competitive games with higher payouts. This reduces the lottery's profit margin to 10%, down from the previous 20%.
The bill, which Rep. Melissa Shusterman introduced, aims to bring in more revenue to help finance programs for the state’s senior citizens.
“State Lottery proceeds are a lifeline for the assistance programs older Pennsylvanians rely on to afford medications, transportation, meals, and more. As the Senate Democratic Chair of Aging & Youth, I was proud to support the Governor's proposal to ensure the Lottery can generate more profit and, most importantly, put money back into PA seniors’ pockets,” said Sen. Maria Collett.
