CENTENNIAL, Colo.—A prominent pastor charged with conning his parishioners in a $575,000 life insurance scam pleaded guilty Thursday to felony theft.
Prosecutors accused the Rev. Acen Phillips, an Aurora-area pastor, of defrauding AIG by falsifying documents to funnel money to church groups he controlled, sometimes showing up at funerals to make contact with family members about filing an insurance claim.
In at least one instance, prosecutors alleged Phillips asked a mother to sign her deceased son’s name on a beneficiary form a few days after the funeral.
Phillips’ plea means he won’t spend any time in jail. Instead, he was sentenced to eight years of probation and ordered to pay $500,000 to AIG Life Insurance Co.
In exchange for his plea, the Colorado Attorney General’s office dropped 12 other counts and AIG Life Insurance Co. dropped a federal civil suit against him.
He was also sentenced to perform 100 hours of community service and ordered to attend a theft offenders class and a victim empathy group.
Phillips, founder of New Birth Temple of Praise Community Baptist Church, faced up to 81 years in prison and up to $5 million in fines if convicted on all counts.
At issue were claims filed under a group life insurance policy taken out for American Church United, which prosecutors say was headed by Phillips.
Phillips, 73, said he was deeply sorry.
“I would like to apologize to the court and my community,” he said. “I would certainly like the opportunity to redeem myself to the community.”
Before sentencing, District Judge Charles M. Pratt said he was surprised the first time he read the allegations against Phillips.
“How could a man who has led the life that you’ve led and done all the good deeds that you’ve done engage in this type of behavior?” Pratt said he remembered thinking.
Pratt said the sentence was fitting because Phillips had not been convicted of a felony before. The theft by receiving charge he plead guilty to on Thursday—a class 3 felony—was the harshest of the counts he faced.
Travis Young, an assistant attorney general, said he believed there was enough evidence to convict Phillips in a trial but that there was also a chance for acquittal. He said Phillips’ defense was going raise issues about AIG’s business practices and “demonize” the agency.
Phillips’ attorney, Gary Lozow, said “demonize” was a strong word and that they were going to argue that Phillips “thought he had the authority to do certain things” with the insurance policies.
One of the families that took out an insurance policy with Phillips was that of Aarone Thompson, a missing and presumed dead 6-year-old girl. Thompson’s stepmother, Shely Lowe, died in May 2006. She and Aaron Thompson, Aarone’s dad and Lowe’s live-in boyfriend, were indicted on charges of fatal child abuse and other counts related to Aarone’s disappearance.
Phillips had also been a media spokesman for the family.
