The Black Collar Crime Series relies on public news stories and publicly available information for its content. If any incorrect information is found, please contact Bruce Gerencser. Nothing in this post should be construed as an accusation of guilt. Those accused of crimes are innocent until proven guilty.
George Lee, III, pastor of St. John the Baptist Church in Savannah, Georgia has been charged with purchasing, pressing, manufacturing, or distributing marijuana as well as possession of illegal mushrooms, MDMA, and THC oil. Lee was previously convicted of drunk driving.
Officials at the historic St. John Baptist Church in Savannah, Georgia, remained tight-lipped Wednesday about the recent arrest of their pastor for possession of controlled substances and the use of drug-related objects during a traffic stop on U.S. Highway 80.
When asked if their 50-year-old leader, George Perry Lee III, would remain in the pulpit of the largest African American congregation in historic Savannah, in the wake of the arrest, a church spokesperson who did not give her name told The Christian Post that they couldn’t answer that question.
Lee, who has been the pastor of St. John Baptist Church since Dec. 19, 2005, was arrested by Tybee Island Police around 4 a.m. Saturday, WJCL reported. While he bonded out of jail the same day, WSAV noted that the pastor was charged with purchasing, pressing, manufacturing or distributing marijuana as well as possession of illegal mushrooms, MDMA and THC oil.
When contacted for further details Wednesday, Tybee Island Police said the case was still under investigation. Jail records show that in addition to his drug related charges, Pastor Lee was charged with speeding and failure to maintain his lane.
Lee was previously arrested by Savannah Police in Chatham County in March 2018 for drunk driving. He was sentenced to probation in 2021 after he pleaded guilty to the DUI charge. In addition to his recent arrest, Lee also has an open case in Chatham County for driving on a suspended license and operating an unregistered vehicle.
Bruce Gerencser, 67, lives in rural Northwest Ohio with his wife of 46 years. He and his wife have six grown children and thirteen grandchildren. Bruce pastored Evangelical churches for twenty-five years in Ohio, Texas, and Michigan. Bruce left the ministry in 2005, and in 2008 he left Christianity. Bruce is now a humanist and an atheist.
The Black Collar Crime Series relies on public news stories and publicly available information for its content. If any incorrect information is found, please contact Bruce Gerencser. Nothing in this post should be construed as an accusation of guilt. Those accused of crimes are innocent until proven guilty.
In 2018, Kenneth “Kenny” Glasgow, a well-known preacher in the Dothan, Alabama area and the half-brother of Al Sharpton, was accused of capital murder.
A well-known community activist has been arrested and charged with capital murder in connection with a fatal shooting Sunday night on Allen Road.
Dothan Police Chief Steve Parrish said police believe the Rev. Kenneth Glasgow, 52, was the driver of a vehicle involved in the shooting of 23-year-old Breunia Jennings of Dothan. Also charged is 26-year-old Jamie Townes of Dothan, whom police believe to be the trigger man.
Police believe Townes was angry at Jennings because he believed she stole his car. The two men are being held at the Houston County Jail without bail.
Under Alabama law, a person believed to have aided or abetted a criminal act is equally liable for the underlying act.
“Patrol units were responding to a suspicious vehicle call near Stringer Street AME Church,” Parrish said during a press conference Monday at the Dothan Police Department. “When the units approached the area, they noticed a situation that appeared to be an automobile accident. However, when officers approached the area they knew the scene was a homicide.”
Parrish stated the investigation is ongoing and additional arrests may occur since additional passengers are believed to have been in the vehicle police say was driven by Glasgow. ….
Glasgow has been involved in several community movements since being released from prison. He was convicted on drug charges in the late 1980s. Upon his release, he founded The Ordinary People Society, a community and homeless ministry in Dothan. He has advocated for the restoration of voting rights for ex-felons and helped start Moma Tina’s Mission House in Dothan, along with his mother.
Glasgow has referred to himself as Kenny Sharpton Glasgow on several occasions and is believed to be the half brother of the Rev. Al Sharpton, founder of the National Action Network.
Under Alabama law, murder committed by or through the use of a deadly weapon while the victim is in a vehicle is considered a capital crime. A person convicted of a capital crime is eligible for life in prison without parole or death.
In February 2021, the Houston County Grand Jury dropped the murder charge against Glasgow.
The Houston County Grand Jury has dropped capital murder charges against Kenneth Glasgow stemming from his March 2018 arrest for the involvement in the shooting of 23 year old, Breunia Jennings.
The Grand Jury ruled there is insufficient evidence to establish enough probable cause to take Reverend Kenneth Glasgow to trial for the capital murder charge.
Dothan Police Department told WDHN three years ago that the murder victim, Breunia Jennings, was found dead in a stolen car belonging to Jamie Townes, the assailant who allegedly shot and killed Jennings.
Townes then rode around Dothan with human rights activist, Rev. Kenneth Glasgow looking for his stolen car. Police determined that multiple rounds had been fired into the stolen car Jennings body was later found in.
In the state of Alabama, when a person fires shots into an occupied vehicle it becomes a capital murder case.
Although Glasgow no longer has a capital murder charge, he still currently has pending charges; drug possession, assault on a police officer, and tampering with physical evidence that he is awaiting trial on.
Earlier this year, Glasgow pleaded guilty to tax evasion, mail fraud, and drug conspiracy charges.
Dothan pastor Kenneth Glasgow, 57, pleaded guilty to tax evasion, mail fraud, and drug conspiracy charges on Friday, according to United States Attorney Sandra J. Stewart.
Glasgow founded The Ordinary Peoples Society (TOPS) and the Prodigal Child Project, nonprofit organizations.
He claimed that nearly half a million dollars he took would be used for charitable purposes.
Instead, Glasgow admitted during the 2018 calendar year alone, he withdrew $407,450.00 in cash from the bank that was used for personal benefit.
He failed to report those funds as income on his tax return, not even filing a report for that year.
As a part of the plea agreement, Glasgow agreed to pay the IRS $376,720.00 in restitution for tax years 2016 through 2019.
He also pleaded guilty to mailing falsified forms in order to collect Social Security disability benefits.
To collect those payments, Glasgow told the Social Security Administration that he struggled with mobility, dressing himself, and preparing meals. But he failed to answer questions about his ability to handle money.
In his plea agreement, Glasgow admitted that he also rented a car using funds from one of his nonprofits and listed himself as the sole authorized driver.
Glasgow also pleaded guilty to previous drug charges.
“Kenny’s plea today is what he felt was in his best interest. He’s happy to finally get this matter behind him,” defense attorney Derek Yarbrough told News4.
A sentencing hearing will be scheduled in the coming months.
At that hearing, Glasgow will face a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison, along with substantial fines and restitution.
Yesterday, Glasgow was sentenced to 30 months in prison for drug conspiracy, social security and mail fraud.
Kenneth Glasgow, pastor and founder of The Ordinary People’s Society and Prodigal Child Project, was sentenced to 30 months in prison for drug conspiracy, social security and mail fraud, according to his attorney Derek Yorbrough.
According to documents filed by the Department of Justice, Glasgow was accused of stealing $407,450 from one of his tax-exempt organizations and sending false information to the Social Security Administration to obtain disability payments and related health benefits under the Medicare and Medicaid programs.
Glasgow reported in 2019 that he worked at The Ordinary People’s Society (TOPS) for 60 hours a week with no income and at his other charity, Prodigal Child Project (PCP), for 50 hours a week. They also claim Glasgow used the money to rent a vehicle each month from a dealership, even though he said others drove him around, according to past reports.
From 2016 to 2019, Glasgow withdrew a total of $1,300,848.54 in cash from TOPS and PCP, never accounting for that money on the nonprofits’ IRS forms or on any tax returns of his own, according to documents.
Glasgow’s sentence includes charges for conspiring with codefendant Willie Frank Peterson, 50, of Dothan, to possess cocaine with intent to distribute. Documents show that Peterson pleaded guilty to his involvement in the drug conspiracy on March 14, and in his plea stated that Glasgow agreed to purchase cocaine from Peterson in 2018 and 2019.
In addition, reports show Glasgow received traffic citations relating to 27 different traffic stops between February 5, 2015, and August 11, 2020. All citations indicated that Glasgow was the driver of the vehicle.
Glasgow changed his plea four different times until eventually pleading guilty to all charges on February 24, 2023. The judge also ordered that Glasgow serve three years of supervised release following his prison term and pay the IRS $376,720.00 in restitution, according to the DOJ.
Bruce Gerencser, 67, lives in rural Northwest Ohio with his wife of 46 years. He and his wife have six grown children and thirteen grandchildren. Bruce pastored Evangelical churches for twenty-five years in Ohio, Texas, and Michigan. Bruce left the ministry in 2005, and in 2008 he left Christianity. Bruce is now a humanist and an atheist.
The Black Collar Crime Series relies on public news stories and publicly available information for its content. If any incorrect information is found, please contact Bruce Gerencser. Nothing in this post should be construed as an accusation of guilt. Those accused of crimes are innocent until proven guilty.
On March 30, 2019, Christopher Cox, pastor of Long Lake Church in Traverse City, Michigan, was arrested and charged with luring two men to his office and raping them after incapacitating them with methamphetamine and GHB.
Michigan State Police investigators interviewed a 19-year-old man who claimed Cox contacted him March 12 looking for a “drug buddy,” according to court records. Cox promised the man — who was homeless at the time — drugs and women if he came back with Cox to his home, the man claimed.
Cox gave the man meth to smoke and “CBD shots,” making the man “extremely inebriated,” according to a probable cause statement. Cox raped the man numerous times over the course of several hours that night, according to the account.
The accuser said Cox dropped him off at Safe Harbor the following morning, threatening to kill him if he told anyone about the night prior.
Records show the accuser went to Munson Medical Center where a sexual assault exam revealed bruising and redness “consistent with anal trauma.”
Mike McDonald, chairman of Safe Harbor’s executive board, said homeless people are much more likely to be victimized than the average person.
“It’s appalling to me that something like this could happen to anybody under any circumstances, especially by someone who purports to be a minister,” McDonald said.
A second man told troopers that Cox gave him meth sometime in October 2018 at Cox’s office in Traverse City — Moeggenberg did not immediately know the location. Like the account given by the other man, Cox gave the man meth and waited until he was high, drunk and incapacitated before assaulting him, despite the man’s efforts to fight him off, records show.
The man told Michigan State Police troopers that Cox stopped several hours later, claiming he had to get back to his wife and child.
“Based on what I know, I would be surprised if there weren’t more victims,” Moeggenberg said.
A search of Cox’s home and office uncovered items like lubricant, male enhancement pills, a blindfold and nylon webbing police suspect was used for bondage, records show.
They also found lighters, glass pipes, single-use syringes, meth and a substance police believe was GHB, known as the “date rape drug,” according to records. Moeggenberg said investigators also seized electronic devices. MSP’s Computer Crimes Unit searched the devices recovered during the March 18 search and uncovered “additional evidence,” according to a press release.
Yesterday, Cox pleaded guilty to one count of third-degree criminal sexual conduct.
Christopher Cox, 41, pleaded guilty to one count of third-degree criminal sexual conduct in a plea deal that dismissed a laundry list of charges — including three counts of first-degree criminal sexual conduct, extortion, delivering/manufacturing meth and three counts for possession of child porn.
A third-degree CSC carries a maximum prison sentence of 15 years and requires registration as a sex offender. Initial charges could have netted a life sentence.
The Black Collar Crime Series relies on public news stories and publicly available information for its content. If any incorrect information is found, please contact Bruce Gerencser. Nothing in this post should be construed as an accusation of guilt. Those accused of crimes are innocent until proven guilty.
Christopher Cox, pastor of Long Lake Church in Traverse City, Michigan, stands accused of luring two men to his office and raping them after incapacitating them with methamphetamine and GHB.
Michigan State Police investigators interviewed a 19-year-old man who claimed Cox contacted him March 12 looking for a “drug buddy,” according to court records. Cox promised the man — who was homeless at the time — drugs and women if he came back with Cox to his home, the man claimed.
Cox gave the man meth to smoke and “CBD shots,” making the man “extremely inebriated,” according to a probable cause statement. Cox raped the man numerous times over the course of several hours that night, according to the account.
The accuser said Cox dropped him off at Safe Harbor the following morning, threatening to kill him if he told anyone about the night prior.
Records show the accuser went to Munson Medical Center where a sexual assault exam revealed bruising and redness “consistent with anal trauma.”
Mike McDonald, chairman of Safe Harbor’s executive board, said homeless people are much more likely to be victimized than the average person.
“It’s appalling to me that something like this could happen to anybody under any circumstances, especially by someone who purports to be a minister,” McDonald said.
A second man told troopers that Cox gave him meth sometime in October 2018 at Cox’s office in Traverse City — Moeggenberg did not immediately know the location. Like the account given by the other man, Cox gave the man meth and waited until he was high, drunk and incapacitated before assaulting him, despite the man’s efforts to fight him off, records show.
The man told Michigan State Police troopers that Cox stopped several hours later, claiming he had to get back to his wife and child.
“Based on what I know, I would be surprised if there weren’t more victims,” Moeggenberg said.
A search of Cox’s home and office uncovered items like lubricant, male enhancement pills, a blindfold and nylon webbing police suspect was used for bondage, records show.
They also found lighters, glass pipes, single-use syringes, meth and a substance police believe was GHB, known as the “date rape drug,” according to records. Moeggenberg said investigators also seized electronic devices. MSP’s Computer Crimes Unit searched the devices recovered during the March 18 search and uncovered “additional evidence,” according to a press release.
