Former church secretary gets 5-year sentence

The former secretary of Leonard Street Baptist Church was sentenced to five years in prison Tuesday for embezzling more than $140,000 from the church over a period of several years.

James Robert Martin, 68, of Hot Springs Village, pleaded guilty July 10 to a felony count of theft of property over $25,000, punishable by up to 20 years in prison. A bench sentencing hearing was held Sept. 4 before Judge Marcia Hearnsberger, who took the matter under advisement.

Martin appeared Tuesday and was sentenced to 20 years in prison, with 15 years suspended, and ordered to pay $137,658 in restitution to the church. It was noted Martin is eligible for transfer to a regional punishment facility.

Martin was arrested July 5, 2017, and released that same day on $5,000 bond. He pleaded not guilty to the charge on Nov. 7, 2017, and the case had been continued multiple times before he changed his plea in July.

He had been featured as a “Most Wanted” suspect on the Hot Springs Police Department’s Facebook

page prior to his arrest.

“We’re just saddened by the situation,” the Rev. Jimmy Holland, pastor of Leonard Street, told The Sentinel-Record shortly after Martin’s arrest.

“It was a violation of trust that took everyone by surprise, but the church has done very well. We’ve rebounded in full,” he said, noting the church had reached out to Martin multiple times prior to his arrest but got no response.

According to the affidavit, on Aug. 22, 2016, Holland filed a complaint with police after he and other church staff discovered several discrepancies in the church’s finances that had occurred over the past several years.

He stated the former secretary, identified as Martin, wrote several checks from the church’s bank account between Jan. 1, 2014, and Aug. 8, 2016, totaling $64,315.34 in unaccounted funds. Holland noted Martin had permission to write checks but had not provided any invoices or receipts for the checks written and he resigned as secretary prior to the complaint being filed.

The church hired an accounting firm, Jordan, Woosley, Crone and Keaton, to prepare an independent accounting report for the discrepancies in the finances between Jan. 1, 2012, and Aug. 31, 2016. Their findings concluded that between those dates, Martin completed $140,155.49 in unauthorized disbursements, withdrawals and charges on the church’s account.

After reviewing the report from the accounting firm and other evidence, a warrant was issued for Martin’s arrest.