OKLAHOMA – A 63-year-old pastor, who had spent prison time for larceny, admitted that he used contributions for a community center for personal purchases, including hotels, gambling, liquor, automobiles, and jewelry, federal officials announced last week.
Willard Lenord Jones, 63, of Tulsa, stole $933,000 from the Greater Community Development Project. He pleaded guilty last week to three counts of wire fraud and one count of subscribing to a false tax return, according to authorities.
He is scheduled to be sentenced in January and is facing up to 20 years for each of the wire fraud counts plus up to three years for filing a false tax return, officials said.
Initially, Jones who had spend time in prison for larceny refused to step down and told his congregation that he was taking a sabbatical, according to a report by News 6 in Oklahoma.
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In a court hearing last week, Jones admitted that, from September 2007 to June 2013, he misappropriated approximately $933,000 from the Greater Cornerstone Community Development Project, a non-profit organization formed to raise money for the building and operation of a community center in South Haven, a neighborhood in West Tulsa.
Jones, who also served as the project’s executive director, solicited monetary contributions from donors, including foundations, corporations, churches and individuals, to fund the development project.
As part of the scheme, officials said Jones fraudulently transferred funds from community center bank accounts to church bank accounts and then transferred those funds into personal bank accounts.
As part of his plea agreement, Jones will forfeit his residence, a Rolex watch and fur coat. A criminal forfeiture money judgment will also be entered against him in the amount of $933,507.80, officials said.