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Marie Carson (72) from Indianapolis, Indiana, was sentenced to two years in federal prison for stealing money from a Catholic church and school for over 13 years by an Indiana District Court on Monday, February 13.
According to court documents, she was accused of illegally transferring around $574k from the business accounts of Saint Matthew's Catholic Church and School to her personal accounts from August 18, 2008, to May 19, 2021. She worked as a business manager at the parish and was caught in November 2021.
Carson pleaded guilty to the charges of wire fraud. In addition to her prison charges, US District Court Judge Chief Tanya Walton Pratt ordered her to pay back the stolen money in restitution and to be under the supervision of the US Probation Office for two years.
The FBI Indianapolis' Special Agent in charge of the investigation, Herbert J. Stapleton, stated:
"This scheme was fueled by pure greed. For more than a decade, the defendant abused the trust of the church and its parishioners to line her own pocket."
Marie Carson and her husband used the embezzled money to gamble at casinos and take an annual month-long vacation in Florida.
While working at Saint Matthew's Catholic Church and School, Marie Carson was in charge of keeping track of monetary transactions, including processing checks and donations. However, it is to be noted that she was the only member overlooking the finances.
According to a press release by the United States Attorney's Office and the Department of Justice, the 72-year-old manager allegedly made false entries into the database that was used to track payments. Investigators stated that the figure stolen was much higher as she later admitted to embezzling money since 2004.
Zachary Myers, a U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Indiana, commented:
"Her greed and desire for lavish vacations outweighed her interest in following the dictates of our criminal laws and the teachings of her church, ‘thou shalt not steal.'"
Marie Carson was caught while she was on leave from her position. Her temporary replacement found suspicious transfers going to an external bank account. Investigations revealed around $289,000 going into multiple external accounts, including one under the church's name.
The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) with assistance from the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department (IMPD). Agent Stapelton added:
"While she may have benefited in the short term, in the end this perpetrator’s deception landed her behind bars. The FBI and our partners will continue to identify and investigate those who engage in these types of illegal schemes and hold them accountable."
Law enforcement officers had previously estimated that Marie Carson committed wire fraud 124 times.
This is not the first time someone has stolen money from a church. In September 2022, a former church official in Indian River County, Deborah Lynn True, along with a now-deceased pastor, was caught siphoning off funds. She allegedly used $550k in church donations to pay off her bills. True was an administrator as well as a bookkeeper.
