{"id":6583,"date":"2014-10-12T13:20:23","date_gmt":"2014-10-12T20:20:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/?p=6583"},"modified":"2014-10-12T13:28:01","modified_gmt":"2014-10-12T20:28:01","slug":"tulsa-pastor-pleads-guilty-stealing-hundreds-thousands-dollars-earmarked-community-center","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/?p=6583","title":{"rendered":"Tulsa Pastor Pleads Guilty to Stealing Nearly a Million Dollars Earmarked for a Community Center"},"content":{"rendered":"

OKLAHOMA<\/strong>\u00a0– A 63-year-old pastor, who had spent prison time for larceny, admitted that he used contributions for a community center for personal \u00a0purchases, including\u00a0\u00a0hotels, gambling, liquor, automobiles, and jewelry, federal officials announced last week.<\/p>\n

\"Pastor<\/a>
Pastor Willard Lenord Jones (Photos by News 9)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Willard Lenord Jon<\/strong>es, 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.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

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 \u00a0in Oklahoma.<\/p>\n