A Brooklyn church pastor pleaded guilty Tuesday to federal tax evasion after authorities said he diverted millions of dollars from a church and daycare he led to pay for personal expenses and failed to report the income to tax authorities.
Paul Mitchell, the lead pastor of a Brooklyn-based church and president of an affiliated educational daycare, entered the guilty plea in federal court in Brooklyn. He admitted to one count of tax evasion, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.
Prosecutors said Mitchell used the organizations’ funds for personal spending over a seven-year period, from 2015 through 2022. Court filings show he charged personal purchases to the church’s and daycare’s credit cards, including men’s clothing, luxury watches, jewelry worth thousands of dollars, and life insurance premiums. He also wrote checks from church accounts to cover his personal credit card bills and income tax payments.
Investigators further alleged that Mitchell regularly withdrew large sums of cash from church and daycare bank accounts and transferred money into his own personal accounts. He did not report this money as income on his federal tax returns, significantly lowering his tax liability.
As a result, authorities said Mitchell caused an estimated tax loss of about $2.9 million to the Internal Revenue Service and roughly $316,700 to New York State.
Mitchell faces a maximum sentence of five years in prison, along with restitution and fines of up to $250,000. His sentence will be determined by a federal judge after consideration of the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other legal factors.
