Butler County Judge Michael Oster said at the hearing that Garry Meyer, 61, used money stolen from Tri-County Baptist Church on high-end escorts, drugs, pornography, credit cards, cars and vacations, The Hamilton-Middletown Journal-News reported.
Meyer pleaded guilty last month to aggravated theft for embezzling money from the church in West Chester in the Cincinnati area over a 14-year period starting in 2001.
“Our church family has continued to pray for everyone involved in this very sad event,” Tri-County Baptist pastor Brian McManus said at the sentencing. He told the court Meyer confessed only after his wife found out his secret.
Meyer’s wife, one of several congregants who attended the hearing, broke down as her husband apologized to the church.
“There is no excuse for my actions,” Meyer said. “I also want to say I am sorry to my family. I have caused unimaginable hurt and suffering.”
He continued, turning to his wife, “I am sorry for betraying your trust. …You have always been the best part of my life.”
Prosecutors raised the total amount of money they said the church lost to $802,000 from $637,000 as they continued probing its finances. Investigators initially believed only $400,000 had gone missing.
