Bishop Emanuel Shaleta pleaded not guilty on Monday to 16 felony charges, including money laundering, during a hearing attended by many of his supporters. The hearing followed his arrest Thursday at San Diego International Airport as he was trying to leave the country, according to the San Diego County Sheriff’s Office. Shaleta, 69, is accused of embezzling from the St. Peter Chaldean Catholic Cathedral in El Cajon, east of San Diego. It’s unclear if the retirement of the Iraqi Patriarch, Cardinal Louis Raphael Sako, also announced on Tuesday, is connected to Shaleta’s case.
