Kevin Wallin, 63, has been jailed for five-and-a-half years for running a coast-to-coast drugs operation in the US.
The Independent has reported that he received meth in the post from suppliers in California before delivering it to a distributer in New York, and had purchased an adult sex shop to launder the profits.
Speaking in court in Connecticut Wallin said: "The day I was arrested was a very good day. It took me out of that situation."
He pleaded guily to a meth conspiracy charge in 2013, and has been jailed for 28 months. It is estimated he will serve time for about three more years.
US District Judge, Alfred V Covello, sentenced him to 65 months and imposed supervised release of five years.
He said to Wallin that he could "not ignore your decision to infect your community" with meth.
"For you, sir, this is an unhappy day." But he added that letters of support from friends and former parishioners surpassed "anything I have ever seen."
Kevin Wallin has been named 'Monsignor Meth' in a number of media reports.
Kelly Barrett, Wallin's public defender, said her client had "put all his efforts in helping others" but neglected himself.
She called for leniency because Wallin has no criminal history and was unlikely to return to crime. She also said he had been coping during a financially difficult time at the parish since the 2008 recession: "The man who had given help to others was unable to accept help."
Assistant US Attorney, Patrick Caruso, said Wallin had "abandoned his priestly life" and became a meth addict. He added that he was "genuinely remorseful," but the "most culpable" as head of the drugs ring.
"He turned his apartment into a meth den for people to buy meth, to use meth," he said. "The public didn't know how he became a stone-cold drug dealer."
A psychiatrist who works with addicts and a church colleague has asked for leniency: "We try to judge wisely and justly," Monsignor Andrew Varga of Westport told the judge.
