URBANA, In poor health. – Lekevie C. Johnson, 47, previously of the 2000 block of Clayton Boulevard in Champaign, Illinois, pleaded responsible on December 1, 2022, to Federal Program Misapplication, Pupil Mortgage Misapplication, and False Assertion in Chapter. Sentencing for Johnson has been scheduled on April 10, 2023, on the U.S. Courthouse in Urbana, Illinois.
In court docket earlier than U.S. Justice of the Peace Decide Eric I. Lengthy, Johnson admitted that he was previously the pastor of Mount Calvary Missionary Baptist Church, previously often called Jericho Missionary Baptist Church, on Bloomington Street in Champaign. Between 2012 and 2019, he operated a not-for-profit company, Life Line Champaign, Inc., which acquired federal grant funds from the US Division of Housing and City Growth, by means of the Metropolis of Champaign, to supply summer season enrichment applications for low-income college students within the Backyard Hills neighborhood the place the church was situated. Johnson admitted misapplying $25,700.74 of HUD program grant funds for his personal profit, together with by making quite a few ATM money withdrawals at varied casinos.
Johnson additionally admitted that he had obtained federal pupil loans between 2017 and 2019 to attend Liberty College’s on-line Grasp of Arts program. Previous to receiving the loans, Johnson licensed that he would use the loans just for licensed instructional bills. Nonetheless, Johnson used $31,291.62 of the loans for varied non-educational bills, together with to gamble at casinos.
Lastly, Johnson admitted to committing chapter fraud. On January 31, 2020, Johnson and his spouse filed for Chapter 7 chapter within the Central District of Illinois. In his petition, Johnson claimed that he acquired solely $42,900 from his church in 2019, though he acquired tens of 1000’s of extra monies from the church that yr. On March 5, 2020, Johnson testified below oath at a chapter listening to that he had disclosed all of the funds he acquired from the church and had no management over the church’s funds. In reality, Johnson managed the church’s funds and had acquired tens of 1000’s of {dollars} in funds from the church that he had not disclosed in chapter.
Johnson was launched on bond pending sentencing.
For Federal Program Misapplication, Johnson faces statutory penalties of a most ten-year time period of imprisonment, a most $250,000 positive, and a most three-year time period of supervised launch. For Pupil Mortgage Misapplication and False Assertion in Chapter, Johnson faces separate statutory penalties of a most five-year time period of imprisonment, a most $250,000 positive, and a most three-year time period of supervised launch.
The case investigation was performed by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Springfield Subject Workplace; Division of Housing and City Growth—Workplace of Inspector Common; and the Division of Schooling – Workplace of Inspector Common. The U.S. Trustee for Area 10 referred the alleged chapter fraud to the U.S. Legal professional’s Workplace. The U.S. Trustee Program is the part of the Justice Division that protects the integrity of the chapter system by overseeing case administration and litigating to implement the chapter legal guidelines. Area 10 is headquartered in Indianapolis, with extra workplaces in South Bend, Indiana, and Peoria, Illinois.
Supervisory Assistant U.S. Legal professional Eugene L. Miller is representing the federal government within the prosecution.