Self-proclaimed monk pleads to gun charge, gets probation

A self-proclaimed monk operating in Howard County pleaded guilty to unlawfully owning a gun Wednesday, receiving probation.

Ryan St. Anne Gevelinger admitted he had the gun at his Holy Rosary Abbey on Snoddy Street in the small town of Armstrong when deputies came to arrest him in April. Prosecutor Stephen Murrell said Gevelinger has a felony conviction from the state of Wisconsin in the 1990s. Gevelinger received a five-year probation sentence for the plea, with an underlying prison term of seven years if he violates it.

Gevelinger had been in jail since the April arrest for financial exploitation of an elderly person. Last week, Murrell dropped the charges, which carried a $150,000 cash bond. Geveligner was set for trial on that case on January 4.

Judge Cynthia Suter also accepted an amended complaint that dropped a pending assault charge from Gevelinger’s time in jail. Court records say Gevelinger kicked a jail worker.

A number listed on the Holy Rosary Abbey’s sign proved no longer in service when ABC 17 News tried to get in touch with Gevelinger.