Ripon pastor agrees to 18 months behind bars for selling church
Monday, January 30, 2006
(01-30) 16:17 PST Manteca, Calif. (AP) --
A Ripon pastor accused of selling the town's oldest church pleaded guilty
to embezzlement on Monday and agreed to 18 months in prison, court
officials said.
Randall Radic, 53, entered his plea in San Joaquin County Superior Court
as part of a deal in which prosecutors agreed to drop nine other charges.
Radic had preached at First Congregational Church for nearly a decade
before he sold the church last October for $525,000, allegedly using the
money to buy a BMW. He also faked documents that gave him possession of
his house, which was owned by the church, then used the property to take
out loans, authorities said.
Before the plea deal, Radic had faced up to nine years in prison for 10
counts, including two counts of theft by embezzlement, two counts of
obtaining property by false pretenses, four counts of forgery of
signature and two counts of presenting a fraudulent document.
Radic's attorney Michael Babitzke declined to comment on the case Monday.
Radic remains in San Joaquin County Jail on $750,000 bail. He was
scheduled to appear for a formal sentencing and restitution hearing on
March 16.
URL: http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?
file=/n/a/2006/01/30/state/n161750S34.DTL
--
Enkidu AA#2165
http://www.thoughts.leaddogs.org/
EAC Chaplain and ordained minister,
ULC, Modesto, CA
PGP ID: 0xC4CE8CF0
The suspicious mind believes more than it doubts. It believes in a
formidable and ineradicable evil lurking in every person.
-- Eric Hoffer
.
|
