{"id":2510804,"date":"2025-11-14T20:58:59","date_gmt":"2025-11-15T01:58:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/woman-pleads-guilty-to-stealing-272205-from-a-church-seemingly-avoids-prison-time\/"},"modified":"2025-11-14T20:59:50","modified_gmt":"2025-11-15T01:59:50","slug":"woman-pleads-guilty-to-stealing-272205-from-a-church-seemingly-avoids-prison-time","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/woman-pleads-guilty-to-stealing-272205-from-a-church-seemingly-avoids-prison-time\/","title":{"rendered":"Woman Pleads Guilty to Stealing $272,205 from a Church, Seemingly Avoids Prison Time"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">26<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fwoman-pleads-guilty-to-stealing-272205-from-a-church-seemingly-avoids-prison-time%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2510804&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>LaChria Bowden,a 55-year-old woman from Buffalo,pleaded guilty to stealing over $270,000 from a religious organization where she worked as an assistant to the treasurer. The theft occurred between November 2017 and September 2024, during which she wrote preauthorized checks to herself instead of the organization&#8217;s expenses.The crime was uncovered when a check from the group bounced, prompting an investigation that revealed Bowden used the stolen funds for personal expenses. She was subsequently fired and agreed to repay the stolen amount along with nearly $9,000 owed in taxes.<\/p>\n<p>Despite facing felony charges of second<a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/villages-beloved-swan-never-put-up-a-fight-as-it-was-butchered-police-reveal-why-teens-thought-they-could-do-it\/\" title=\"Police explain why teens killed village&#039;s beloved swan without resistance.\">-degree grand larceny<\/a> and repeated failure to file taxes-which carry a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/kim-potter-to-be-charged-with-second-degree-manslaughter-in-daunte-wright-shooting\/\" title=\"Kim Potter To Be Charged With Second-Degree Manslaughter In Daunte Wright Shooting\">maximum prison sentence<\/a> of 15 years-a judge plans to sentence Bowden to five years of probation, as recommended by the religious organization. The theft involved the Church of God in Christ&#8217;s New York Western second Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction, which has 38 member congregations. The organization expressed shock and regret over the breach of trust and hopes all relevant factors are considered at sentencing. Bowden remains out on her own recognizance awaiting sentencing set for January 22.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<p><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><\/p>\n<section> \t\t\t\t<script>console.log(\"ad slot (AC1)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (IC1)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (IC2)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (IC3)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (IC4)\")<\/script><\/p>\n<p>A Buffalo woman admitting to doing the crime, but it appears she won&rsquo;t do the time.<\/p>\n<p>LaChria Bowden, 55, of Buffalo, pleaded guilty on Thursday to a pair of felonies in connection with the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/multiple-democratic-staff-members-alleged-corruption-revealed-just-one-week\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">theft<\/a> of more than $270,000 from a religions organization, according to a news release from the <a href=\"https:\/\/www4.erie.gov\/da\/press\/former-treasurer-pleads-guilty-stealing-272000-religious-organization\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Erie County District Attorney&rsquo;s Office<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>State Supreme Court Judge Paul Wojtaszek said that when sentencing rolls around on the charges of second-degree grand larceny and repeated failure to file personal income and earnings taxes, he plans to impose a sentence of five years of probation as requested by the organization. The charges carry a maximum prison sentence of 15 years.<\/p>\n<p>The news release said from Nov. 13, 2017, to Sept. 24, 2024, the defendant took $272,205 while working as an assistant to the group&rsquo;s treasurer.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">Buffalo woman admits to stealing $272K from church <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/CqVBPOvUW2\">https:\/\/t.co\/CqVBPOvUW2<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/G379Rs9sK0\">pic.twitter.com\/G379Rs9sK0<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; &#128308; WNY Safety Pulse (@WNYnews) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/WNYnews\/status\/1989106363218227256?\">November 13, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>  <script> console.log(\"A\/B Test Video Player\"); \/\/ Helper function to set a cookie function setVideoCookie(name, value, days) {     var expires=\"\";     if (days) {         var date=new Date();         date.setTime(date.getTime() + (days*24*60*60*1000));         expires=\"; expires=\" + date.toUTCString();     }     document.cookie=name + \"=\" + (value || \"\")  + expires + \"; 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        document.head.appendChild(style);          \/\/ Add needed div for STN player         const stnDiv=document.createElement(\"div\");         \/\/ add data-stn-player attribute         stnDiv.setAttribute(\"data-stn-player\", \"s28Az7AY\");         document.getElementById(\"videoPlayer\").appendChild(stnDiv);           \/\/ Find the 1st paragraph before #videoPlayer and observe it         let paragraphToObserve=findPreviousParagraph(\"#videoPlayer\", 2);         observeElement(paragraphToObserve);     }); }  \/\/ Assign user to a group window.adUserGroup=assignSplitTestGroup(); let isSubbed=getCookie( 'ff_subbed' );  \/\/ Example usage if (isSubbed) {     console.log('User is subscribed, not running a player'); } else if (window.adUserGroup==='A') {     console.log('Running Aditude player for group A');     aditudePlayer(); } else if (window.adUserGroup==='B') {     console.log('Running Anyclip player for group B');     anyclipPlayer(); } else {     console.log('Running STN player for group C');     stnPlayer(); } <\/script> <\/p>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>The way the scheme worked, Bowden took preauthorized checks and wrote them to herself instead of the organization&rsquo;s expenses.<\/p>\n<p>The theft was discovered in September 2024 when a check from the group bounced.<\/p>\n<p>An investigation found that Bowden used the cash for her expenses. She was fired from her job.<\/p>\n<p>Bowden signed a Confession of Judgment to pay back what she took from the group.<\/p>\n<p>She also signed a Confession of Judgment to pay $8,950 to the New York Department of Taxation and Finance.<\/p>\n<p>Bowden was released on her own recognizance until her Jan. 22 sentencing.<\/p>\n<p>The <a href=\"https:\/\/buffalonews.com\/news\/local\/crime-courts\/article_06dfb15b-eab0-45c6-accb-6f6825551b12.html?utm_campaign=snd-autopilot&amp;utm_medium=social&amp;utm_source=facebook_The_Buffalo_News\">Buffalo News<\/a> reported that the theft was connected with the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/man-arrested-targeting-florida-church-rampage-everything-sight-police\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Church<\/a> of God in Christ&rsquo;s New York Western Second Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction.<\/p>\n<p>The jurisdiction has 38 member congregations, Erie County Assistant District Attorney Jonathan Abrams said.<\/p>\n<p>Thomas Casey, attorney for the group, said an audit was conducted by an elder with the group once questions were raised, the results of which were d with the <a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3YuVZYV\" >district attorney&#038;rsquo<\/a>;s office.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;When he discovered the theft and the significant amount involved, it was shocking to everybody,&rdquo; he said.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;It was a terrible breach of trust in someone who had been associated with the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/small-town-pastor-lured-city-hall-arrested\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">church<\/a> for a long time,&rdquo; he added.<\/p>\n<p>Casey said the group was &ldquo;very regretful&rdquo; the theft resulted in criminal charges and hopes &ldquo;all of the factors involved&rdquo; are weighed in sentencing Bowden.<\/p>\n<div style=\"position: relative;\">\n<div class=\"ff-fancy-header-container\"> \t\t\t \t<\/div>\n<div class=\"entry-submit-correction inner-content\">\n<div class=\"correction-form\">\n<form style=\"display: none;\">\n<div class=\"sc-name-field\"> \t\t\t\t\t\t<label>* Name<\/label> \t\t\t\t\t\t<br \/> \t\t\t\t\t\t<input type=\"text\" name=\"name\" required> \t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<div class=\"sc--field\"> \t\t\t\t\t\t<label>* <\/label> \t\t\t\t\t\t<br \/> \t\t\t\t\t\t<input type=\"text\" name=\"\" required> \t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<p> \t\t\t\t\t<label>* Message<\/label> \t\t\t\t\t<br \/> \t\t\t\t\t<textarea name=\"message\" required><\/textarea> \t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<div class=\"required-message\" style=\"display: none; padding-bottom: 15px;\">* All fields are required.<\/div>\n<p> \t\t\t\t\t<input type=\"submit\" value=\"Submit\" onclick=\"event.preventDefault(); firefly_sc();\"> \t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<div class=\"firefly-sc-confirm\" style=\"display: none;\">Success!<\/div>\n<\/p><\/form>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p> \t\t<script> \t\t\tfunction firefly_sc() { \t\t\t\tif( typeof window.captchaPublicKey==typeof undefined ){ \t\t\t\t\tconsole.error('window.captchaPublicKey is not defined'); \t\t\t\t} \t\t\t\tgrecaptcha.execute( window.captchaPublicKey, { action: 'submit_correction' } ).then( function( token ) { \t\t\t\t\tvar opts={ \t\t\t\t\t\taction:    'firefly_sc_submit', \t\t\t\t\t\tname:      document.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction [name=\"name\"]' ).value, \t\t\t\t\t\t:     document.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction [name=\"\"]' ).value, \t\t\t\t\t\tmessage:   document.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction [name=\"message\"]' ).value, \t\t\t\t\t\tpost_id:   firefly_post_id, \t\t\t\t\t\tcap_token: token \t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\tvar inputs=[ 'name', '', 'message' ];  \t\t\t\t\tfor( var i=0; i <inputs.length; i++ ) if( ! 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LaChria Bowden, 55, from Buffalo, pleaded guilty on Thursday to two felony charges related to stealing over $270,000 from a religious organization, according to a statement from the Erie County District Attorney&#8217;s Office<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2510805,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/Ben-Working-Feature-Image-2025-11-14T190242.400.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[33651],"tags":[5643,32750,67114,51799,3983],"class_list":["post-2510804","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-western-journal","tag-church","tag-guilty-plea","tag-no-prison-time","tag-theft-2","tag-woman"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/Ben-Working-Feature-Image-2025-11-14T190242.400.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2510804","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2510804"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2510804\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2510808,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2510804\/revisions\/2510808"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2510805"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2510804"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2510804"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2510804"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}