Pot-Growing Priest Cops A Plea

APRIL 7--Meet Rev. Richard Arko. The 40-year-old Roman Catholic priest pleaded guilty yesterday to growing marijuana in a closet in his Ohio rectory. An unrepentant Arko, who told a Common Please Court judge that he believed in pot's medicinal use, was sentenced to probation and ordered to perform 100 hours of community service. The priest was a pothead, investigators determined, not someone who needed the weed for medical purposes. When cops raided the Prince of Peace rectory in January, they discovered 35 plants and the tools to cultivate the crop. They also seized several how-to drug volumes, including "The Marijuana Grower's Guide" and "Opium for the Masses." Arko, pictured in the below Summit County Jail photo, also happens to be facing a criminal probe into allegations that he molested a local man. (3 pages)