BY : Ryan Foley, Christian Post Reporter
A Louisiana pastor has been convicted in connection with the theft of hundreds of thousands of dollars from one of the churches he oversees, after previously denying allegations of wrongdoing.
In a statement Monday, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Louisiana David Courcelle announced the conviction of Dale Sanders, 56, of Kenner, on 25 counts related to wire fraud, access device fraud and obstruction of a federal investigation, following a years-long investigation.
Sanders was convicted by a jury last week after a five-day trial. U.S. District Judge Brandon Long, who presided over the trial, scheduled Sanders’ sentencing for Oct. 13.
Sanders could be sentenced up to 20 years in prison, fined $250,000 or more, followed by three years of probation upon his release from prison.
The conviction of Sanders, who serves as pastor of Fifth African Baptist Church in New Orleans and Second New Guide Missionary Baptist Church in Metairie, comes three months after his indictment for embezzling more than $343,000 from one of the churches.
According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, “Sanders would withdraw funds and transfer money held in Church A’s bank accounts to accounts controlled by Sanders. The money was used to fund his personal expenditures, to include gambling, dining, and living expenses.”
“Sanders utilized Church A’s debit card for unauthorized personal transactions and received cash, goods and services totaling over $340,000 that he was not entitled to,” the U.S. Attorney’s Office added. “Sanders was also found guilty of obstruction of a federal investigation for providing a falsified record in response to a grand jury subpoena.”
Following his indictment, Sanders vehemently denied the allegations against him in a Facebook video and insisted that they stemmed from a long-running dispute with the former finance manager at Second New Guide Missionary Baptist Church, whom he identified as the person responsible for the financial mismanagement at the church.
“I shielded what was going on. Shielded this gentleman, covered it to the expense of my own exposure,” he continued. “I would show up sometimes for Bible study on Wednesday nights, and the church lights would be off. Other times, we lost church insurance. And when we would go to renew that insurance with another company, it would cost us tens of thousands of dollars.”
Sanders added that he “received a salary of zero from the Second New Guide Missionary Baptist Church” for four years as a result of the financial mismanagement, which led to two of his cars getting repossessed and forced him to transfer his youngest son from private school to public school. “I’m not a perfect man,” Sanders acknowledged. “Dale Sanders has never suggested to anyone that he was a perfect man. But there are some things I would never do. And what I’m being accused of is something I have never done.”
Sanders is the son of the Rev. Leroy Sanders Sr., himself a longtime Baptist pastor who faced similar accusations decades earlier when he was accused of stealing from the church he led for more than 40 years. He was arrested by the St. John the Baptist Parish Sheriff’s Office, and spent two years fighting the case in court before the charges were dropped. Dale Sanders has referenced his father’s ordeal in his book, Termites in the Church.
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