Church administrator convicted, faces 20 years in prison for embezzlement scheme
A former administrator and wife of a former police chief has been convicted of stealing over $360,000 from a northern California church through a multi-year embezzlement scheme impacting the church's youth ministry and food pantry.
A federal judge found 38-year-old Chanell Easton, originally from Oklahoma City, guilty of two counts of aggravated identity theft on Monday.
In October, Easton pleaded guilty to 22 counts of wire fraud but maintained a not-guilty plea to the remaining two counts of identity theft. She was convicted after a one-day trial before U.S. District Judge John A. Mendez. Sentencing is scheduled for June 25.
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According to prosecutors from the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of California, Easton used multiple credit cards affiliated with St. Andrew Presbyterian Church in Yuba City to engage in a five-year embezzlement scheme from 2013 to 2018.
Prosecutors noted that the former church staff member used church funds to pay off various credit cards. Purchases were made at a hair salon, retail stores, online retailers and a vacation rental service. She also bought VIP concert tickets.
One of the cards Easton allegedly used belonged to the church's youth ministry pastor. She used his identity to make unauthorized personal purchases from Zappos.com. Prosecutors say that Easton's use of the youth minister's identity allowed her to shift suspicion away from herself.
Easton is also accused of transferring money directly from the church's bank accounts to her own personal account, paying the balance of her personal credit card and paying her cell phone provider for her personal bills and new phones.
Additionally, the former church employee stole money from the church by writing checks to others to cover their personal expenses and by writing checks to herself, forging the signatures of the church's treasurer and head volunteer of the church's food pantry.
Easton is the wife of former Marysville, California, Police Department Chief Aaron Easton, who departed after he faced a sexual assault investigation stemming from a 2008 incident. The details surrounding the death of Aaron Easton's former wife, Sara Easton, remain a mystery. She died in 2015 of a gunshot wound.
Easton faces a maximum statutory penalty of 20 years in prison, a $250,000 fine for each count of wire fraud and a mandatory two-year sentence on each count of aggravated identity theft.
Adam Gasner, Easton's defense attorney, told McClatchy News on Wednesday that "Easton previously expressed remorse and admitted wrongdoing when she plead guilty to wire-fraud in relation to the theft in this case."
As it relates to Easton impersonating the pastor by using his name and credit card, Gasner maintains that it was theft and credit card fraud but not aggravated identity theft because other church members were allowed to use the pastor's card.
"We respect the decision of the judge, who found differently," Gasner said.
Nicole VanDyke is a reporter for The Christian Post.
