Former church pastor sentenced in embezzlement case

JAY, Okla. (AP) _ A Delaware County judge has given a former Grand Lake pastor a five-year deferred sentence for embezzling money from a church. <br><br>Fred Thomas Simpkins, former pastor of Church on

Tuesday, January 28th 2003, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

JAY, Okla. (AP) _ A Delaware County judge has given a former Grand Lake pastor a five-year deferred sentence for embezzling money from a church.

Fred Thomas Simpkins, former pastor of Church on the Lake, pleaded guilty on Monday to embezzlement by a trustee. He was ordered to pay $12,000 in restitution and fined $150.

Prosecutors charged Simpkins, 38, in August 2001 for writing checks from the church account for personal items such as horses and boarding facilities.

Simpkins also spent church funds on a Tulsa apartment, a vehicle, a resort membership and Internet and telephone pornography, court records state.

Church officials reported Simpkins left the 40-member church with less than $5,000 in the checking account.

Simpkins will have to pay restitution before his sentence is complete, said John Kelson, Delaware County assistant district attorney.

In December, Simpkins pleaded no contest to embezzlement charges in Craig County involving the same church.