Fallen pastor: I sinned, I'm sorry

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As a packed courtroom of supporters and critics watched in silence Friday, one of Northern Kentucky's most prominent pastors admitted he had sinned and apologized. Then a federal judge sentenced the Rev. Larry Davis to 30 months in prison for income tax evasion and lying on a loan application.

The sentence, the maximum under a plea deal with prosecutors that Davis agreed to four months ago, was harsher than the charges typically would indicate, said U.S. District Judge David Bunning. But Davis caused serious, personal and widespread damage to the community, said Bunning.

After release from prison, Davis will be on probation for five years.

Davis admitted to stealing at least $500,000 from his congregation, First Baptist Church of Cold Spring, over several years. It was that money he admitted to not reporting to the IRS.

He also admitted to forging a church member's signature on a loan application that mortgaged the church.

Several charges related to the theft were dropped in exchange for him pleading guilty to the two charges.

Davis spoke briefly before he was sentenced.

"There is no one in this room or outside this room who is more mad at me than I am," he said. "No one has more sorrow and remorse for what I have done...I broke the law and in my terms, I've sinned. I'm sorry for that."

Bunning said Davis' position as a pastor was similar to that of a public official, and he should be held to a higher standard. "This is a public corruption case," Bunning said.

He said when people entrusted with leadership take advantage of that trust, it harms the greater society.

"These actions give individuals reason to not trust leaders. I think it is important to send the appropriate message to individuals in a position of authority that they cannot take the kind of actions you took," Bunning told Davis.

Bunning said he took into account the harm caused to the church and to individuals.

"Your actions forced many friends and family to become foes," the judge said.

He cited separate letters he received from a mother and daughter who no longer talk to each other. One supported Davis, the other asked for the maximum. Bunning said the court was deluged with letters about Davis.

"The level of correspondence received here is unprecedented," Bunning said.

Davis' supporters mounted a letter-writing campaign, but so did those who wanted to see him pay dearly for his crimes.

"I stopped counting when I reached 75," said Bunning. "I read every one."

Bunning said the number of letters supporting Davis paled in comparison to the letters asking for the maximum sentence. Supporters wrote about Davis' work to build First Baptist, which Davis led from 1986 until last fall.

They wrote of kindnesses he had performed for individuals and his work in bringing evangelist Billy Graham to the tri-state in 2003. Others wrote about how Davis shattered their trust, stole funds donated for the church, and tore families apart.

Davis' lawyer, Patrick Hanley, said Davis already had suffered from his actions. "He's damaged himself. He's damaged his relationships, he's damaged something he built," said Hanley

"He will be in debt for the rest of his life. He has been disgraced in this community," Hanley said, arguing that 24 months in jail - the minimum the plea deal allowed - would be enough punishment.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Robert McBride argued for the maximum, calling that both just and a deterrent to others.

"If this were a typical tax evasion case, I might agree" to a lower sentence, McBride said. "But we cannot escape looking at the source of the income - it came from the church.

"He was a very rich man, making an adequate salary...He chose to turn his back on the love and respect of hundreds of members of the church. This is the money that he evaded taxes on."

Several people asked the judge to order Davis to pay restitution to the church. But Bunning said the law narrowly defines "victims" and the charges that Davis was being sentenced on defined the victims as Fifth Third Bank, which he defrauded for the loan, and the federal government, for the tax evasion.

Bunning noted Davis indicated that he lost the missing church money gambling, something Davis characterized as "recreational."

Bunning said Davis needs to acknowledge that "your gambling is an addiction, like anything else. You need help with this." That was another factor supporting a longer sentence, the judge said.

"What led to your demise is the old adage of the fox guarding the henhouse. You had control over everything."

He said Davis might be able to use his faith and his gifts in prison.

"There are a lot of lost souls in prison," he said. "Hopefully, you can help them."

Hanley asked for a stay of 30 days before Davis had to surrender. But Bunning sent Davis to prison immediately.

"I set the sentencing 120 days out (from the guilty plea)...You had plenty of time to get your affairs in order. I think everyone needs closure," Bunning said.

Some of Davis' supporters were in tears after the sentence, but they declined to speak to reporters.

Darryl Neltner, former treasurer in Davis' church, said he was pleased with the sentence and praised investigators.

"In the last two years, I've grown to know Larry Davis as a very evil person who doesn't care who he hurts to get what he wants," said Neltner, now a deacon in Christ Baptist Church, a new congregation that split from First Baptist over Davis' behavior.

"We have moved on. We have a wonderful pastor. This is definitely closure for us."

As Davis' supporters and detractors left the hearing by separate elevators, Pam Volker of Alexandria said she felt justice was served, but still hopes the church is able to get some kind of restitution from Davis. A member of his church for two years, she said she felt used and duped.

"I just want to tell people to read your Bible, not your pastor; to follow God and not to follow man, or you'll be led astray," she said.

Scandal-plagued pastor is linked to new church

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The last six months have been challenging ones for the congregation of First Baptist Church of Cold Spring as it struggled to rebound from the scandal in which former pastor Larry Davis admitted to stealing more than $500,000 from church accounts he controlled.

But since Davis -- who faces 24 to 30 months in federal prison when he is sentenced Feb. 17 for tax evasion and lying on a loan application -- left in October, things have turned around dramatically, say church members, and the congregation now has a great feeling of unity.

"We're ... going through a lot of organization and planning meetings to develop the leadership within the church, leadership that was lacking while Davis was there, because he took over and controlled virtually everything that went on at the church," said member Chuck Gray.

That's why he and other church members found it so dismaying last month to receive a letter from two of their former brethren inviting them to services of a new church that seems to be forming around Davis.

The letter said the church was meeting in an Alexandria storefront and that "Brother Larry" planned to preach there Jan. 22.

"We are not trying to get you to leave any other church, or anything like that," the letter read. "We just thought you might enjoy the chance to hear Brother Larry preach ... again."

An ad placed on the Web site of Cincinnati Christian University lists the contact person for the church, which calls itself the Potter's House, as Dr. Larry J. Davis. The former First Baptist pastor holds a doctorate in evangelism from the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville.

The ad lists an address for "Dr. Davis" that is the same as that of the Pooles Creek Road address of the church parsonage that Davis bought a year ago for $75,000. It also lists Davis' cell phone number as the contact number for the new church.

The ad describes the church as a non-denominational, small congregation that recently left a large church, "looking to be more impactful on a one-to-one basis within our community."

Gray said he considered it appalling that Davis would continue to reach out to First Baptist members.

"He is continuing to try and undermine what's happening at the church," Gray said. "He will be totally unsuccessful."

Meanwhile, Gray said the First Baptist congregation has elected a pulpit committee to find a new, permanent pastor, and is operating well under interim pastor Dan Garland, who leads the church development/evangelism team for the Kentucky Baptist Convention.

The church opened its new, $2.5 million sanctuary on Easter Sunday 2003, which gave it room for 1,500 worshippers. In those days, Davis had built First Baptist into one of Northern Kentucky's largest and fastest growing congregations.

His combination of personal charisma, down-to-earth preaching and care for those in need endeared him to members and attracted hundreds of new people.

But even while Davis was ministering to his flock, he was stealing from the church.

According to the plea agreement he signed with federal prosecutors after an investigation of nearly two years, from 2000 to 2003, he stole $500,000 to $730,000 from church accounts.

After Davis' misconduct became known early in 2004, about 300 church members left and formed Christ Baptist Church, also in Cold Spring.

It's just all so sickening to hear about all the church members are totally unphased by any preacher that gets caught. If that church is not good enough then they will build one somehere else, you will not stop their worshipping their innvisible god.

Dumb bunch of goons:

"We have moved on. We have a wonderful pastor. This is definitely closure for us."

And davis:

"There is no one in this room or outside this room who is more mad at me than I am," he said. "No one has more sorrow and remorse for what I have done...I broke the law and in my terms, I've sinned. I'm sorry for that."

Yeah he's just damned sorry that he got caught!


The judge:
"There are a lot of lost souls in prison," he said. "Hopefully, you can help them."

Yeah you can teach them how stupid the general populace is and they can start their own church when they get out.

The dumbfounded again:
"We have moved on. We have a wonderful pastor. This is definitely closure for us."

Yes we have found another preacher to lie to us and tell us how wonderful that we all are.

More ignorance:
"I just want to tell people to read your Bible, not your pastor; to follow God and not to follow man, or you'll be led astray," she said

Yes indeed that bible will lead you straight to where Davis will soon be.

Don't these churches hire auditors?