DeWitt priest sentenced to prison, restitution after embezzling $780K from retired priests

A Lansing-area priest was sentenced up to 20 years in prison and ordered to pay restitution for embezzling hundreds of thousands of dollars from three retired priests, the Michigan Attorney General's Office said Monday.

The Rev. David Rosenberg, 72, of DeWitt was sentenced Monday in Gratiot County Circuit Court by Judge Cori Barkman. Rosenberg was ordered to serve up to 20 years behind bars and ordered to pay restitution after a Clinton County jury convicted him last month on eight felonies for embezzling or stealing hundreds of thousands of dollars from three "retired, elderly priests," said Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel in a news release.

The accused priest was convicted of three counts of embezzlement from a vulnerable adult $100,000 or more, false pretenses, perjury, uttering and publishing, and larceny $20,000 or more, Nessel said.

Rosenberg was the director of the Lansing Catholic Diocese’s St. Francis Retreat Center in DeWitt, about nine miles north of Lansing, between 2015-21 before he retired, the Attorney General's Office said. The 95-acre retreat center property includes apartments that house retired priests, according to the release.

Prosecutors accused Rosenberg of embezzling or stealing nearly $780,000 from priests that lived at the retreat center between 2018-20. Rosenberg then donated the stolen funds to his charitable foundation, FaithFirst, formerly the Rosenberg Family Corporation, the Attorney General's Office said.

His victims were identified as the Rev. Benjamin Werner, the Rev. Joseph Aubin and the Rev. Ken McDonald, who lived at the retreat center's apartments until their deaths, Nessel said.

Nessel's office charged Rosenberg for the crimes in 2022. He was bound over for trial last year.

The final amount ordered for Rosenberg to pay in restitution was not set Monday by the court and may be further negotiated by the parties, Nessel's office said.

"Stealing from our elderly and vulnerable adults, especially from a position of authority, is a significant crime and this sentence reflects that," Nessel said. "My department will continue to prosecute these crimes, on behalf of victims living or deceased, and it is our hope that would-be thieves and scammers see this is a serious offense that can get them years behind bars."