From Colorado Springs-
Rev. Donald Armstrong used church funds for his two children’s college tuition in lieu of getting any pay raises for several years, his attorney argued Thursday.
But prosecutors countered they were unable to find documentation of any such arrangement that the former rector claimed he had with Grace and St. Stephen’s Church in Colorado Springs.
The arguments came at the outset of a two-day hearing to determine whether Armstrong must repay the church for restitution.
About 35 church members gathered for the hearing, leading officials to move it to a larger courtroom. Some in the audience had arrived more than an hour before the hearing began, knitting while they waited.
The hearing continues Friday, when 4th Judicial District Gregory R. Werner is scheduled to sentence Armstrong for his plea of no contest to one count of felony theft and a similar plea to one count of misdemeanor theft.
Special prosecutor Stephen Jones of the Pueblo District Attorney’s office told Werner that his office is seeking repayment of only funds used for unauthorized tuition payments. A forensic accountant who testified at the hearing pegged those costs to be $291,000 between 1999 and 2006.
Read more:
http://www.gazette.com/articles/armstrong-113497-children-through.html#ixzz1EyPFxhBm
Also here-
http://www.csindy.com/colorado/friends-in-high-places/Content?oid=2065682
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