Ex-church official who stole $1.2M sentenced on tax counts
April 7, 2021
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PITTSBURGH (AP) A former western Pennsylvania church administrator who is currently in state prison for stealing $1.2 million was sentenced to a federal prison term related to the embezzlement.
David Reiter was sentenced Tuesday to more than two years and must also pay more than $1.4 million in restitution to the IRS. He had pleaded guilty to 16 federal counts last December, including willful failure to pay employment payroll taxes and filing false income tax returns.
The federal prison term will run concurrently with the five to 10-year sentence he received for the state charges, which included receiving stolen property, theft and forgery.
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Since he stole more than $1 million from the Upper St. Clair church where he worked as a business administrator, David Reiter says has lost more than 70 pounds, reconnected with family he’d not spoken to in more than a decade and strengthened his relationship with God.
During his sentencing hearing on Tuesday, Reiter apologized for stealing from Westminster Church and told the court that materialistic greed and pride put a stranglehold on his life.
“I am deeply and truly sorry for allowing these sins to enter and control me,” he said. “I am fully aware that even with God’s forgiveness, I need to suffer the consequences of my sins.”
A man already convicted in state court of stealing more than $1 million from the Upper St. Clair church where he previously worked pleaded guilty in federal court on Wednesday to tax charges. David Reiter, 51, will be sentenced by U.S. District Judge Donetta Ambrose on April 12. He pleaded