Dr. John Henry Walker, 48, Pastor of Macedonia Baptist Church in Charlotte, was sentenced today on nine federal criminal counts in connection with false statements on bank loans, tax evasion and making false statements to federal agents.US District Judge Frank D. Whitney sentenced Walker to serve five years in prison, followed by a five-year term of supervised release. In addition, Walker was ordered to pay approximately $274,000 in restitution to the IRS plus any interest and penalties.
The church congregation voted to keep Walker as Pastor after he was indicted last year. Several of Walker’s supporters and non-supporters were inside and outside the courthouse during the eight hour sentencing hearing today. After Walker was sentenced this evening, a big commotion erupted outside the courthouse. (See news links below for video/photos)
John Henry Walker came to lead the Macedonia Baptist Church in 1992. In the beginning of his tenure, Walker received compensation considered ‘normal’ for a church leader. According to the 10-page Federal Indictment, things changed in 1998 when Walker started stealing church monies and lied on his tax returns to evade paying taxes. Walker was only charged for the crimes he committed from 1998-2003; however, it was mentioned in today’s sentencing hearing that Walker’s illegal activities continued up until he was indicted last November.
Indictment Highlights:
- From 1998-2003, Walker personally earned $600,000 in taxable income. He reported to the IRS a taxable income of $55,000 during the six year period; therefore, he evaded paying $125,000 in taxes. The court documents show the church paid Walker in excess of $900,000 in salary from 1998-2003. This amount does not include unreported gifts and non-income payments. In addition, Walker made over $100,000 for speaking engagements, performing ceremonies, etc. and the church paid for most of his living expenses.
- From 1998-2003, Walker used church credit cards for personal expenditures in excess of $25,000 per year. He used the credit card to pay for hotel rooms and travel expenses for his extramarital affairs with female church members. He used the card to purchase Viagra and he took several cash advances to hide his use of the card. He would submit receipts to the church with bogus information about what he spent the money on. According to church records, Walker did not account (or provide bogus receipts) for $65,000 of the $150,000 in credit card charges.
- Walker is charged with lying on several loan and credit card applications and he lied to Federal Investigators when they were investigating him. One example of this is when he pledged to investigators he only received a $2,000 yearly bonus from the church when in fact his bonuses ranged from $18,000 to $43,000 each year!
- In addition to the salary Walker was paid by the church, he used church funds to pay for extra-ordinary expenses. Church funds paid Walker: a salary, his family lived in a church owned home (which he purchased for $5,000 and later sold for $123,000.) Walker received a housing allowance of $2,000 per month, an average annual bonus of $30,000, a Christmas bonus, paid vacations and use of luxury church owned vehicles. From 1998-2003, the church paid for his legal services, tax liabilities of $10,500 and his social security contributions of $25,000. Walker and his Minister wife, Rosie Knight Walker, published several books and the church paid for all publication costs and the Walker’s kept all the profits from sales.
If the general church account did not have the monies to compensate Walker, he would transfer money from the building construction account or the summer youth enrichment account to compensate himself. He even loaned himself $6,500 from the summer youth account when he purchased a home in 2001 and he never paid it back. So, church members were donating money for one purpose and Walker used it for another. Read the indictment for more detailed information.
Court Docs: * DOJ Press Release * Walker Sentencing Memo *Federal Indictment
News Reports: WBTV – WSOC – WCNC – News 14 – Charlotte Observer