Pastor found guilty of embezzling $340,000 from churches for gambling

An American pastor, Dale Sanders, has been sentenced to jail after being found guilty of stealing more than $340,000 from two churches in Louisiana, which he used for his gambling and other personal expenditures.

He was convicted of 25 charges including wire fraud, access device fraud and obstruction of federal investigation after being tried for five days at a US District Court presided over by Judge Brandon S. Long.

This has been reported by the United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Louisiana in its statement issued to our reporter via its website belonging to the United States Department of Justice.

According to prosecutors, Sanders “defrauded Church A and Church B in order to obtain money and property by means of materially false and fraudulent pretenses, representations and promises.”

The statement read, “SANDERS would withdraw funds and transfer money held in Church A’s bank accounts to accounts controlled by SANDERS. The money was used to fund his personal expenditures, to include gambling, dining, and living expenses.”

It added that Sanders “utilized Church A’s debit card for unauthorized personal transactions and received cash, goods and services totaling over $340,000 that he was not entitled to.”

The jury also convicted Sanders of obstructing a federal investigation.

The statement read, “SANDERS was also found guilty of obstruction of a federal investigation for providing a falsified record in response to a grand jury subpoena.”

Judge Brandon S. Long scheduled Sanders’ sentencing for October 13, 2026.

According to the US Attorney’s Office, Sanders faces up to 20 years’ imprisonment, a $250,000 fine or the greater of twice the gross gain or twice the gross loss, up to three years of supervised release after imprisonment, and payment of a mandatory $100 special assessment fee for each count.

US Attorney David I. Courcelle praised the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s New Orleans Field Office for investigating the case, while Assistant U.S. Attorneys Kathryn McHugh and Tracey Knight of the Financial Crimes Unit handled the prosecution.