Pastor admits stealing church’s money amounted to roughly $130,000 to pay gambling debt and make personal purchases.
Following a Wednesday statement by the U.S. Attorney’s Office, District of New Hampshire, Gregory Neal, an Executive Pastor of Journey Baptist Church in New Hampshire has pleaded guilty to stealing the church’s money to pay gambling debt and make personal purchases.
Neal’s role as an executive pastor includes controlling finances. He reportedly made from January 2017 to March 2020 unauthorized withdrawal of church’s money to pay off his personal gambling debt. He also made unauthorized personal purchases with the church’s credit card. The sum of the transaction he made was estimated at $130,000.
The charging status however provides a sentence of a maximum of 20 years in prison, 3 years of supervised release, maximum fine of $250,000 or twice the gross gain or loss restitution. Federal district court judge imposes sentences based on the U.S Sentencing Guidelines and statutes governing the decision of a sentence in a criminal case, the attorney explained. U.S District Judge scheduled his sentencing for July 19, 2023.
Following the statement, U.S. Secret Service investigated Neal’s financial crime activities. Assistant U.S. Attorney Aaron Gingrande however is prosecuting the case.
Neal joined Journey Baptist Church in 2011. He started working there in 2014 as a part-time youth minister. In 2016, he got a full-time job in church administration. The church’s Pastor, Rob Willis said he discovered Neal has been stealing from the church in 2020. Willis claimed a credit card company called him about a bill that was past due for “an excessive amount,” resulting in his report to the police.
According to Willis, whereas Neal should be forgiven, he desires that he get punished for his crime. “I really want to see Greg pay for his crime,” Willis said. “This was bad, but it’s forgivable,” he added.