Pastor Gets 18 Months For Not Paying Taxes On Money Skimmed From ChurchPOSTED: 6:30 am EDT August 31, 2005
CHICAGO -- A pastor was sentenced Tuesday to 18 months in prison for failing to pay taxes on the roughly $1,000 a week that federal prosecutors say he skimmed from the collection plate.
Hundreds of church members packed a federal courtroom for William Ellis' sentencing to show support for the former bishop of the Apostolic Pentecostal Church, and many were in tears over his punishment.
Ellis, 62, stared down, held his head in one hand and shook it sadly as U.S. District Judge Robert W. Gettleman imposed the sentence -- the minimum called for by federal guidelines.
Ellis allegedly skimmed $525,000 in church money over about five years. He pleaded guilty to a single count of tax fraud in a plea agreement with prosecutors under which six other counts were dropped.
Besides dipping into the weekly collection plate, Ellis allegedly used a church credit card for personal travel and clothes, and bought a life insurance policy and paid for a Mercedes Benz with church funds.
Defense attorney James Montgomery argued the church wasn't swindled because its officers knew that Ellis was dipping into the collections and approved the car payments.
Ellis is due to begin serving his sentence Oct. 17.
Author
