Riverside County defrocked priest pleads guilty to selling, possessing drugs [Updated]
A defrocked Roman Catholic priest who operated his own church in Riverside County pleaded guilty today to possessing illegal drugs, authorities said. [Updated Wednesday at 3:35 p.m.: A previous headline on this post did not say that Anthony Martinez Garduno was defrocked.]
Anthony Martinez Garduno, 51, a self-proclaimed Catholic bishop, pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor drug count and four felony drug counts, including possession of the "date-rape" narcotic GHB, authorities said.
Garduno also pleaded guilty to possessing a stolen .32-caliber semiautomatic handgun.
Garduno was arrested Dec. 29 after detectives determined he was selling methamphetamine and was in possession of other drugs at his Our Lady of Tepeyac Church, the Riverside County Sheriff's Department said.
Detectives are investigating allegations that Garduno sexually assaulted underage males at the church, the department said.
Garduno was tried by the Roman Catholic Church for heresy and defrocked in 1993, said John Andrews, a spokesman for the Diocese of San Bernardino.
"He has no official relationship to the Roman Catholic Church," Andrews said.
Afterwards, Garduno formed his own church in Home Gardens, an unincorporated area of Riverside County.
He had initially pleaded not guilty to the drug and gun counts but entered his new plea directly with the court, said John Hall, spokesman for the Riverside County district attorney.
Garduno is scheduled to be sentenced March 1 in Riverside County Superior Court. He could receive four years and four months in state prison, Hall said.
Anthony Martinez Garduno, 51, a self-proclaimed Catholic bishop, pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor drug count and four felony drug counts, including possession of the "date-rape" narcotic GHB, authorities said.
Garduno also pleaded guilty to possessing a stolen .32-caliber semiautomatic handgun.
Garduno was arrested Dec. 29 after detectives determined he was selling methamphetamine and was in possession of other drugs at his Our Lady of Tepeyac Church, the Riverside County Sheriff's Department said.
Detectives are investigating allegations that Garduno sexually assaulted underage males at the church, the department said.
Garduno was tried by the Roman Catholic Church for heresy and defrocked in 1993, said John Andrews, a spokesman for the Diocese of San Bernardino.
"He has no official relationship to the Roman Catholic Church," Andrews said.
Afterwards, Garduno formed his own church in Home Gardens, an unincorporated area of Riverside County.
He had initially pleaded not guilty to the drug and gun counts but entered his new plea directly with the court, said John Hall, spokesman for the Riverside County district attorney.
Garduno is scheduled to be sentenced March 1 in Riverside County Superior Court. He could receive four years and four months in state prison, Hall said.
-- Robert J. Lopez
Photo: Anthony Martinez Garduno. Credit: Riverside Sheriff's Department.
EDITOR'S PICKS:
Well, I'm just *delighted* with the diocese. This guy was about 35 in 1993, which means that if he's been doing bad things to people there's roughly zero chance he wasn't already doing it in 1993, and what's the diocese so proud of? That they defrocked him for ... HERESY. Because that's what really matters.
Yeah, y'all just go on and party like it's 1399. But, really, don't spend too much time wondering why no one takes the Church seriously.
Posted by: Lex | January 04, 2010 at 08:18 PM
I have been going to that church for manny years I have never seen anything wrong going on in that church. I belive that he was set up by haters that hated him since 1993. I also believe that he just pleaded guilty because that is what the prosecutors pressure you to say. Like my causin was pressured to say guilty just because he was in the wrong place at the wrong time. When he had nothing to do with what he was charged for. Our court system does not play fare. Anthony Garnuno is a good person. I do not care what evil things that have said about him.
Posted by: Diana | January 05, 2010 at 09:46 AM
He should pay with full price with no discounts in his sentencing and do the full time. He can pray with his hermanos on the inside. He will also be judged come judgement day.
Posted by: Julian B Duron | January 05, 2010 at 10:42 AM