Bill Dwight Coyle admitted stealing more than $58,000 from St. John the Baptist Catholic Church in Edmond.
Coyle, 62, of Edmond, pleaded guilty to eight counts of violating the state's computer crimes act because he used a computer to make the unauthorized purchases with a church-issued credit card.
He will be sentenced Monday by Oklahoma County District Judge Kenneth Watson.
Among the 880 items Coyle bought from the website Amazon with church money over a 12-year-period were a gun holster, a grenade pouch and a survival guide, records show.
Prosecutors said Coyle repaid the purchases periodically but stopped making payments when he received a $1,000 bonus from the church's former pastor for his work on a church lawsuit that was settled in 2010.
“He didn't feel like that was enough … that he was entitled to more,” Assistant District Attorney Angela Songgera told the judge. “He felt like he was owed that.”
Coyle was fired in 2012 after a co-worker told church officials Coyle owed the money.
A former church business manager facing jail time for embezzlement justified his actions because he felt slighted over a smaller-than-expected bonus, a prosecutor told a judge Friday.
Bill Dwight Coyle admitted stealing more than $58,000 from St. John the Baptist Catholic Church in Edmond.
Coyle, 62, of Edmond, pleaded guilty to eight counts of violating the state's computer crimes act because he used a computer to make the unauthorized purchases with a church-issued credit card.
He will be sentenced Monday by Oklahoma County District Judge Kenneth Watson.
Among the 880 items Coyle bought from the website Amazon with church money over a 12-year-period were a gun holster, a grenade pouch and a survival guide, records show.
Prosecutors said Coyle repaid the purchases periodically but stopped making payments when he received a $1,000 bonus from the church's former pastor for his work on a church lawsuit that was settled in 2010.
"He didn't feel like that was enough ... that he was entitled to more," Assistant District Attorney Angela Songgera told the judge. "He felt like he was owed that."
Coyle was fired in 2012 after a co-worker told church officials Coyle owed the money.
The judge gave Coyle the weekend to decide whether to accept a 10-year deferred sentence, 90 days in the county jail and 500 hours of community service, or a five-year suspended sentence and 250 hours of community service.
A deferred sentence is not a conviction if the conditions of the sentence are met. A suspended sentence is a conviction.
Coyle has paid back $92,600 in restitution, including the cost of a church audit, his attorney said.
A friend of Coyle's paid the debt, the attorney said.
"Obviously, Mr. Coyle made some terrible errors in judgment over an extended period of time," defense attorney Tom Riesen told the judge. "This is a decent man with a decent inner core."
Coyle, who is not in custody, was accompanied to court by his wife. He apologized to church members for his behavior, which he acknowledged he received counseling for.
"I've let them down tremendously," he said. "I was completely wrong; this is nobody's responsibility but my own."
Authorities say a man who was supposed to help people who were in need was really helping himself to money that should have gone to a local church.
Bill Dwight Coyle, the former business manager of St. John the Baptist Catholic Church in Edmond, pleaded guilty to embezzling more than $50,000 in church funds.
He will spend the next three months behind bars and perform hundreds of hours of community service.
In 2012, court documents say Coyle used a church issued credit card to make more than $58,000 worth of unauthorized purchases including a gun holster, grenade pouch and a survival guide.
After pleading guilty to eight counts of violating the Oklahoma Computer Crimes Act, he accepted a 10 year deferred sentence.
Coyle will spend the next 90 days in county jail and fulfill 500 hours of community service.
“We really don’t have any comment, thank you,” said Coyle’s attorney.
Now, the Archdiocese of Oklahoma City is speaking out.
Representatives said throughout this case, the church has prayed for healing and forgiveness and are grateful this matter has been resolved.
Tina Dzurisin, with the Archdiocese of Oklahoma City, said, “Archbishop has been throughout concerned for the parish of St. John the Baptist, concerned for Bill Coyle and his family, concerned for the priests who lead that parish.”
As part of the settlement, Coyle made a $92,600 payment in restitution including the cost of the original church audit.
Now, new systems have been put in place to make sure this fraud never happens again.
Dzurisin said, “At the parish level they really looked into their practices and ensured that they adopted some safeguards that will prevent this in the future.”
As Coyle carries out his sentence, officials said the church can begin to heal and look ahead.
Dzurisin said, “We hope that he’s able to move forward and to feel like this is behind us and that he is forgiven.”
A deferred sentence is not a conviction if the conditions of the sentence are met.
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