Gregory Allen Madeya, 69, spoke out through his attorney after Pennsylvania prosecutors accused him of stealing more than $740,000 from churches and his own mother.
The former Ukrainian Catholic priest, of West Mifflin, Pennsylvania, was arrested in Vero Beach, Florida on Aug. 14 and extradited back to face charges of theft, financial exploitation of an older adult and fraud, according to court records. His bail was set at $25,000 and he is due back in court next month.
Pennsylvania Attorney General Dave Sunday said in a statement that Madeya exploited multiple victims. “It is unconscionable to see a supposed man of God exploiting not only the churches he served, but his own mother,” Sunday said.
The attorney general noted that Madeya’s mother was “of the age when she could not manage her own finances.”
“This defendant abused the trust of those around him, and left them to recover from mammoth financial losses,” Sunday continued.
Prosecutors place the combined alleged theft at $740,409.96. The total includes nearly $320,000 from three Western Pennsylvania churches and $250,000 from Madeya’s elderly mother, according to investigators.
Madeya allegedly withdrew $75,000 from the general fund of The Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary Ukrainian Catholic Church in Derry Township, where he served as priest, between 2021 and 2022. He was suspended from that church in February 2024.
The investigation also involves two other Ukrainian Catholic churches in nearby McKeesport and Jeannette. During one theft, Madeya is accused of snatching a $19,400 gold chalice from a church.
Investigators say Madeya used some of the stolen cash, including money allegedly taken directly from church collection envelopes, to buy heroin. He allegedly exchanged the drugs for sex acts with a man he met at hotels.
The same man eventually moved in with Madeya, prosecutors said. Madeya allegedly spent church funds on a $35,500 Ford Mustang that he gifted to the man, along with overseas vacations and cruise ship tours.
A three-year probe produced physical evidence against the former priest. Investigators allegedly found collection envelopes in his trash and photos of debit cards and bank documents on his personal devices, the attorney general’s office said.
The case spans multiple jurisdictions and victim types, from religious institutions to family members. The three churches, their parishioners and donors all suffered losses alongside Madeya’s own mother, according to prosecutors.
Madeya’s attorney has not publicly addressed the specific allegations involving drugs or the Mustang. The former priest has not entered a plea in court.
The Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary Ukrainian Catholic Church in Derry Township has not commented on the suspension or the criminal charges against its former priest.
Madeya is due back in court next month.