Fugitive former priest, accused of stealing $200,000, presumed dead

Court documents suggest Vargas lied about having cancer and asked parishioners to donate money for medical costs.​

Four months after his reported death, federal authorities say they are close to closing their case against a priest who died a fugitive in Mexico, fleeing an indictment of federal wire fraud in an alleged theft from his parishioners.

The case is unique because the Diocese of Jackson, Mississippi had itself faced criminal charges over the alleged fraud of laicized priest Lenin Vargas, but in 2020 entered into a deferred prosecution agreement to avoid criminal penalty.



Father Lenin Vargas.

The Diocese of Jackson, Mississippi announced Monday that it had received notification that Lenin Vargas, 53, a former priest in the diocese, had died April 1 in Mexico.

Vargas in 2018 fled from the United States to Mexico, his home country, after he was dismissed from his parish amidst a federal wire fraud investigation.

The priest had been indicted on April 26, 2020 on 10 counts of wire fraud, facing a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison after he allegedly solicited nearly $200,000 over a three-year period from parishioners.

A few months later, the Diocese of Jackson was itself charged with concealment of a felony over officials’ knowledge of Vargas’ fraudulent activity. The diocese entered into a deferred prosecution agreement to settle the charges, telling prosecutors they would develop robust internal financial controls.

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