CHICAGO—A former federal prison chaplain admitted Thursday to passing messages from a convicted killer Frank Calabrese to others about the recovery of a hidden violin from a Wisconsin residence once owned by Calabrese, according to federal officials.
The defendant, Eugene Klein, 66, was charged in June, 2011, and pled guilty Thursday to one count of conspiracy to defraud the United States.
Klein help Calabrese and two others to formulate a plan to hide a valuable Stradivarius violin to keep the government from seizing it and applying the proceeds toward a $4.4 million restitution judgment that Calabrese owned his victims, officials said.
Klein, of Springfield, Mo., a Roman Catholic priest, was employed as a chaplain at the U.S. Bureau of Prisons Medical Center for Federal Prisoners in Springfield, Mo., where Calabrese served a life sentence prior to his death in 2013.
As chaplain, officials said Klein was permitted to meet with Calabrese on a regular basis to provide religious ministry, such as the sacrament of Holy Communion. Because of the position of trust he occupied, Klein was able to have close and frequent communication with Calabrese.
Klein knew that prison rules prohibited him from taking letters and messages into and out of the prison, according to authorities.
Except for communications with his attorney, officials said all oral and written communications with immediate family members, including mail and visits, were subject to review and observation to ensure that Calabrese did not pass any messages to anyone that could be used to further criminal activity.