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Minister at secretive N Carolina church sentenced for fraud
Source: Associated Press
Minister at secretive N Carolina church sentenced for fraud
By MITCH WEISS and HOLBROOK MOHR
April 18, 2019
ASHEVILLE, N.C. (AP) — A minister at a secretive church in North Carolina has been sentenced to 34 months in prison and ordered to pay $466,960 in restitution for his role in an unemployment fraud scheme involving businesses owned by members of the congregation.
Kent Covington, a minister at the Word of Faith Fellowship in Spindale, North Carolina, was charged with one count of conspiracy to commit mail fraud in U.S. District Court in Asheville in June 2018. He pleaded guilty to the charge in September. The conspiracy charge carried a possible maximum penalty of 30 years in prison and a $1 million fine.
“I’ve come here to admit what I’ve done is wrong,” Covington told U.S. District Court Judge Martin Reidinger before he was sentenced.
But U.S. District Judge Martin Reidinger said Covington showed a “cynical disregard for the law.” He noted that the scheme happened at a time when the state agency that handles unemployment had to borrow money during the recession.
“It undermined the entire employment security structure of the state. It was sort of like picking the pocket of a dying man,” Reidinger said.
-snip-
By MITCH WEISS and HOLBROOK MOHR
April 18, 2019
ASHEVILLE, N.C. (AP) — A minister at a secretive church in North Carolina has been sentenced to 34 months in prison and ordered to pay $466,960 in restitution for his role in an unemployment fraud scheme involving businesses owned by members of the congregation.
Kent Covington, a minister at the Word of Faith Fellowship in Spindale, North Carolina, was charged with one count of conspiracy to commit mail fraud in U.S. District Court in Asheville in June 2018. He pleaded guilty to the charge in September. The conspiracy charge carried a possible maximum penalty of 30 years in prison and a $1 million fine.
“I’ve come here to admit what I’ve done is wrong,” Covington told U.S. District Court Judge Martin Reidinger before he was sentenced.
But U.S. District Judge Martin Reidinger said Covington showed a “cynical disregard for the law.” He noted that the scheme happened at a time when the state agency that handles unemployment had to borrow money during the recession.
“It undermined the entire employment security structure of the state. It was sort of like picking the pocket of a dying man,” Reidinger said.
-snip-
Read more: https://apnews.com/d8270cdf766d47f593eb8e1b896cf748
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