A Morristown woman and her son have admitted to embezzling a large church out of $1.5 million between July 2007 and April 2010, according to court records.
Barbara D. Whitt, 68, and Michael Dean Whitt, 42, have signed plea agreements that were filed last week.
They are scheduled to be in U.S. District Court in Greeneville on Friday to verbally enter the pleas and learn the date for a sentencing hearing.
The mother pleaded guilty to bank fraud and money laundering.
Her son pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit bank fraud and conspiracy to launder money.
Barbara Whitt served for 47 years as the financial secretary for First Baptist Church, which has a congregation of about 2,500. She and her son were indicted in November in a scheme in which money was taken out of the church's general fund account at a SunTrust Bank branch in Morristown.
According to court documents, Barbara Whitt lied to church officials about the reason for 1,650 checks drawn on the church's bank account in order to garner signatory approval. The checks signed by church officials listed the payee as "cash" for various expenses and fund transfers, but Whitt later added her own name as payee.
Michael Whitt deposited money embezzled from the church into pre-paid cards and took other steps to avoid currency transaction reports.
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