Warrant issued for Pinellas Christian radio host who skipped court date

A Pinellas judge has issued a warrant for the arrest of a Christian radio show host charged with racketeering who didn’t show up for his court date before trial this week.

Pinellas-Pasco Circuit Judge W. Douglas Baird issued a warrant Monday for the arrest of Gary Gauthier, 73.

Gauthier hosted a Tampa Bay area Christian radio show called “It’s God’s Money” in the early 2000s in which he persuaded listeners to invest in real estate properties he and a business partner, David Dreslin, had purchased.

Gauthier, who by that point had gone bankrupt four times, drew investors into a Ponzi scheme, prosecutors said. When the housing market collapsed, payments to investors stopped. Prosecutors said Gauthier and Dreslin scammed nearly 40 Tampa Bay residents out of $6 million. The two were arrested in 2014 on charges of racketeering, fraud and unregistered securities.

https://www.tampabay.com/news/crime/2023/05/25/warrant-issued-pinellas-christian-radio-host-who-skipped-court-date/