Lynchburg Mayor, Former Pastor, Indicted on Multiple Criminal Charges
by Jim Brown
January 4, 2006
(AgapePress) - - A federal grand jury has indicted a United Methodist pastor in Virginia on charges of Social Security fraud, mail fraud, lying to federal investigators, and obstruction of justice. The seven-count indictment alleges that, among other things, Lynchburg mayor Carl Hutcherson stole money from Social Security disability benefits recipients who had entrusted him with managing their finances. Hutcherson has since stepped down as pastor of Trinity United Methodist Church in Lynchburg. U.S. Attorney John Brownlee says the former church leader preyed on his community's most vulnerable citizens.
"He was using their money to go to banquets. He was using their money to buy stereos," Brownlee notes. "In fact, the grand jury has also charged that he had one victim buy a life insurance policy. This victim was paying for it, and yet he made the mayor, personally, the beneficiary. And our evidence is that the mayor set all that up."
The U.S. Attorney has declined to reveal who tipped federal investigators off regarding Hutcherson's suspicious conduct. However, the Department of Justice prosecutor did note that when Bank of James officials confronted the mayor about his alleged illegal activities, the local political leader and pastor lied to them and later lied to federal officials as well.
However, Brownlee makes a point of noting that the Virginia Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church does not appear to have been complicit in Hutcherson's alleged crimes. He asserts, "This is a case about one man who got in deep financial trouble; and rather than doing what the rest of us do, which is live within our means, he decided to turn to criminal activity."
The grand jury indictment, which was handed down December 1 but not unsealed until today, accuses the Lynchburg mayor and former pastor of being in such "severe financial difficulty" that he took funds from his own charity and from two Social Security recipients to pay back taxes and make personal purchases. If convicted of all charges, Hutcherson faces up to 105 years in prison and a fine of $2.5 million.
According to a Roanoke Times article, attorneys John Fishwick and John Lichtenstein are representing Hutcherson and claim his indictment is "defective." The mayor's legal counsels insist the charges against him are without merit and say they will move to dismiss the indictment.
Jim Brown, a regular contributor to AgapePress, is a reporter for American Family Radio News, which can be heard online.
