சர்ச்சிலிருந்தே திருடியதற்காக பெந்தகொஸ்தே கிறிஸ்துவ போதகருக்கு ஐந்து வருடம் சிறை

சர்ச்சிலிருந்தே திருடியதற்காக பெந்தகொஸ்தே கிறிஸ்துவ போதகருக்கு ஐந்து வருடம் சிறை
ஜாக்கிரதை கிறிஸ்துவ கோஷ்டிகளிடம் ஏமாறாதீர்கள்.


Pastor gets five years for theft
Angry church members have their say at sentencing

Thursday, December 2, 2010 02:57 AM
BY JOHN FUTTY

THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH


JEFF HINCKLEY | DISPATCH
David A. Thompson appears at his sentencing hearing for stealing from World of Pentecost Church.


They called him a wolf in sheep's clothing, a spiritual bully, a deceiver.

One by one, members of the World of Pentecost Church stood yesterday in Franklin County Common Pleas Court to express their outrage toward former pastor David A. Thompson, convicted of stealing from the congregation for a decade and concealing his actions through lies and fraudulent documents.

"I personally would rather you held a gun to my head and said 'I'm taking it all,' because at least then both of us would have known what was really going on," said longtime church member Steve Schwendenman. "What you did was much more insidious."

After hearing seven church members ask for a stern punishment for Thompson, and one supporter ask for mercy, Judge Stephen L. McIntosh sentenced him to five years in prison and ordered him to pay $733,048 in restitution.

The judge also ruled that Thompson must serve five years of parole after his release from prison, with another six years of prison hanging over his head if he violates it.

Those terms include making restitution payments and performing 500 hours of community service.

Thompson, a 48-year-old Canal Winchester resident with a wife and three children, rested his face against his clasped hands or stared straight ahead as the church members spoke during a nearly two-hour hearing.

When it was his turn to speak, he stood and addressed the court for more than 20 minutes, repeating his previous claims that he didn't illegally take any money from the church at 3431 E. Main St., where he worked from 1995 to 2007.

"To steal money so that I could have some type of lifestyle, and my family, I did not do that," he said. "And I will not admit to something that I did not do."

He conceded during testimony in September that he gave false financial statements to church members, took out mortgages against church property without telling the congregation and obtained one loan with a fraudulent document. But he said the money that disappeared from the church's building fund was used for church purposes.

Assistant Prosecutor Jay Moore said that Thompson used the money to pay off personal credit cards and support a lavish lifestyle that included numerous luxury automobiles. The judge found that his crimes included theft, forgery, money laundering and income-tax fraud.

"There are some things I have done wrong," Thompson told the judge and an overflow crowd of about three dozen people at yesterday's hearing.

"I'm very, very sorry, first and foremost, that there has been a shame brought on the face of Christianity because of actions I have taken."

He said he still loves those who spoke against him in court.

"I apologize to these people. I know they don't believe me. I feel their anger."

Among those expressing anger was Bob Daniel, who said Thompson "was no more than a wolf in sheep's clothing, a thief among us. . . . He is certainly consumed by love - the love of money."

Rebecca Schwendenman, Steve Schwendenman's wife, spoke of members who sacrificed to tithe to the church, including "a senior citizen who gave from her fixed income so (Thompson) could drive a Hummer."

McIntosh, who convicted Thompson on 22 of 23 counts on Sept. 30 after a nonjury trial, said he arrived at his sentence by weighing the magnitude of the crimes against Thompson's lack of a prior criminal record.

The restitution amount was a combination of the money that disappeared from the building fund and a $130,000 mortgage Thompson obtained with a fraudulent document.

The judge told Thompson that he allowed the church members "to vent because I think you needed to hear them and understand how deep their hurt is."

jfutty@dispatch.com