This image was lost some time after publication.

Raffaello Follieri's Grand Scam—a sweeping tale of international crime and intrigue that, like some lost chapter of The Godfather, hopscotched from the streets of Manhattan to the cobblestone walkways of the Vatican, a long-suffering love interest looking the other way all along—has nearly reached its gripping conclusion:

Raffaello Follieri agreed not to appeal any sentence of up to five years and three months in prison for his plea to wire fraud, money laundering and conspiracy. Sentencing was set for Oct. 3.

As part of his plea, he admitted misappropriating at least $2.4 million of investors' money, sending it to foreign personal bank accounts that were disguised as business accounts. "I knew what I was doing was wrong," he told U.S. District Judge John G. Koeltl. He has been in jail since his June 24 arrest, unable to post $21 million bail. [...] According to the FBI, Follieri claimed the Vatican had formally appointed him to manage its financial affairs and that he had even met the pope in Rome. His actual connections to the Vatican were slim, including his hiring of a relative of a former Vatican official. Prosecutors allege that Follieri was so intent on carrying out the Vatican ruse that he kept ceremonial robes, including the robes of senior clergymen, in his Manhattan office.

That last detail was shocking even to us: So intent was Follieri on scamming God out of his life savings so that he might continue to maintain his extravagant lifestyle, he went so far as to swipe Prada papalware right out of the Vatican closets! Oh, Anne, whatever were you thinking.