Former Wellsburg, West Virginia church treasurer sentenced in embezzlement case

A Wellsburg man has been sentenced to two years' supervised probation, during which he will be required to repay about $48,000 he embezzled from the church where he was treasurer.
William Roy Bowers, 67, of 2003 Main St. received the sentence after entering a plea agreement arranged by his attorney, David Jividen, and Stephen Vogrin, an assistant Ohio County prosecutor who was named special prosecutor for the case.
Vogrin said members of the church involved in the investigation were satisfied with the agreement because it allows Bowers to raise the money he had taken.
Brooke County Prosecutor David B. Cross had recused himself from the case because Bowers lived near him.
Under West Virginia law, the charge of embezzlement carries penalties of one to 10 years in the state penitentiary or up to a year in jail and a fine no more than $2,500.
A criminal complaint filed against Bowers by West Virginia State Police said Bowers had been a treasurer for Wellsburg First Baptist Church for several years until October 2008.
State Police said after he left the position, the church's new treasurer found several checks written to him on the church's account that didn't match bills for utilities and miscellaneous expenses paid by the church.
It was estimated that Bowers embezzled $12,543 from the church in 2005, $11,360 from it in 2006, $13,315 in 2007 and $10,802 in 2008.
State Police said Bowers confessed to writing checks on the church's account for personal expenses, saying he'd tried to repay some of it through church offerings but it got out of control.