WARRENTON, Ga. --- The pastor of a Warren County church has been indicted on charges of tax evasion by a federal grand jury.
Otis Ray Hope, the pastor of First Baptist Church of Warrenton, was indicted Aug. 14 by grand jurors in Baltimore on three counts of tax evasion and a count of subscribing to a false document, according to records obtained from the U.S. District Court of Maryland.
The charges cover 2001 and 2003. During part of that time, Dr. Hope was senior pastor of Montrose Baptist Church in Rockville, Md.
Federal prosecutors contend he owes about $300,000 in back taxes after incorrectly reporting his income.
The fourth count covers tax exemption documents for Shiloh Ministries of Hagerstown Inc., which was operated by Dr. Hope.
Dr. Hope, who has been pastor of the Warrenton church for six months, denies the allegations.
In an interview with The McDuffie Mirror , Dr. Hope said he told the 12-member board of deacons about the indictment a couple of weeks ago. It wasn't until Wednesday night that he decided to tell members of the church.
"I was first made aware of all of this in a telephone conversation that I had with my son, who still lives in Maryland," said Dr. Hope, who lives in Columbia County.
He said he immediately went to Baltimore to address the matter "head-on" even before he had been sent official documentation and ordered to appear at any court proceeding.
"I wanted to confront this right away," he said.
Thomson resident Vernon Burkey, the chairman of the board of deacons, said the church's active deacons are supporting Dr. Hope.
"We voted that we would stand behind him," Mr. Burkey said.
Comments
I believe the Church is going to have to financially stand behind Pastor Hope too. Them "rev'a'noors" work tirelessly to rob us of our "filthy lucre." $300K in tax arrears. Seems like the Pastor don't like ham hocks as much as hawg ears, judging by his income potential and tax liability he eats "high on the hawg." May God Bless him & no man kiss him.
Some people cheat on their taxes. Some get prosecuted. Life goes on.
I had no idea that being a pastor of a church would have such a lucrative income potential. No vow of poverty applies here.
He was just bring n the Sheaves
Hey...he can always call one of those scummy "Tax Lawyers" that advertise on TV... and only have to pay back 2000.00 !
Nope, no tax lawyer is going to help him cut down his tax liability here. He's being criminally prosecuted. The best he can hope for is to be found not guilty by a jury. And if he is found guilty, he'll be doing a lot more than paying back the $300,000 (i.e., he'll be taking showers with Charles Walker at FCI Estill). Once you've evaded taxes, you can't just beg for forgiveness (or repentance in this case).
On another note, the article makes no mention of the actual amount of income he failed to report for the two years in question. It'd take a lot of income to generate $300,000 in back taxes. I just can't believe there are churches out there that pay that kind of money to a preacher. He's definitely distanced himself from the vow of poverty.
So, "he owes about $300,000 in back taxes after incorrectly reporting his income"does this mean he reported some of it not all of it. Having filled out taxes for a number of years, that would have to be a pretty big mistake to accidentally make.........At least he won't have to pay taxes on car or house.
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