LITTLE ROCK — A former North Little Rock pastor's history of defrauding his flocks in Arkansas and elsewhere caught up with him Wednesday when U.S. District Judge G. Thomas Eisele sentenced him to 50 months in federal prison.
Although sentencing guidelines recommended a sentence of 33 months to 41 months, Eisele said he believed that Robert David Keith, 37, deserved more time because of his history and the position of trust that he abused to steal from members of the tiny Warren Hill Missionary Baptist Church.
"It's a sad story," Eisele said.
Keith was pastor of the struggling church at 6304 Crystal Hill Road from July 2004 until April 2005, when church officials began questioning him about financial matters and he "up and left in the middle of the night," according to a church administrator. When he fled, he took along thousands of dollars belonging to the church and a pricey car he bought in the church's name.
Keith was captured in Dallas in late April 2006, eight months after a federal warrant was issued for him. Indicted on five counts of mail fraud, he pleaded guilty to a single count on July 11, and the other counts were dismissed.
During his sentencing hearing Wednesday, the judge referred to parts of Keith's criminal history, referring to a sealed presentence report prepared by U.S. probation officers.
Eisele noted that Keith had pastored and victimized a church in another state and also had defrauded a museum. Without revealing the details, the judge noted that Keith had left behind victims in Florida, Virginia, Georgia, Louisiana and Texas.
While Keith's plea agreement encompassed some of his crimes in other states, with him admitting to carrying out schemes with the intent to steal a total of nearly $132,000, defense attorney Patrick Spivey of Little Rock noted that the actual loss was lower because some stolen items had been returned, including a $48,000 vehicle, a ring and some electronic BlackBerry devices.
"All in all, the picture is one of a very serious fraud by a very intelligent person who knows his way around the fraud business," Eisele said, insisting on a longer sentence than the guidelines called for, even without such a request from the prosecutor, Assistant U.S. Attorney Angela Jegley.
Eisele referred to a resume thatKeith had submitted, using a false name, to get a job at a church in Texas. The resume falsely claimed that he had a bachelor's degree in business administration and was a candidate for a master's degree at Southern Methodist University.
The judge also noted that while Keith was pastoring the North Little Rock church, he was on the lam from authorities in Virginia, where he was charged with a felony. Records from Henrico County, Va., show that he was ordered to repay $9,000 that he had embezzled from a Saturn dealership there.
No one from the Warren Hill church attended the sentencing, and there was no testimony presented.
Eisele said that if Keith is scheduled to serve prison time for crimes he has committed in other states, he must serve his federal sentence consecutively to the others.
Keith addressed the judge from a courtroom lectern, apologizing to the court, the government and his victims.
"I've allowed my greed and selfishness to get the best of me," he said. " ... I've used these past 18 months of incarceration to consider my actions. ... I've learned a lot from this experience."
Eisele did not appear impressed, saying, "It's hard to accept."
He ordered Keith to repay $78,205.41 to his victims and sentenced him to three years' probation after his release from federal prison, where there is no parole.
According to an indictment confirmed by Keith, he reorganized the church after becoming pastor, firing the secretary and taking over some of her duties, including retrieving church mail.
He used a church member's name without authorization to take out a $23,900 loan that he used to buy a 1997 MercedesBenz on which he never made scheduled payments. He wrecked the car, then switched the church to a new insurance carrier and included the car on the policy without disclosing the existing lien or the accident. He then filed a claim with the new carrier, saying the accident had just occurred, and received a check for $8,169 for repairs.
The check was made out to the church, but Keith cashed it and kept the money, never repairing the car.
He also added his name to a church account and withdrew $11,000 in cash that he kept.
Arkansas, Pages 10 on 10/25/2007