Butte pastor sentenced to probation, ordered to pay $288,757 for stealing from church

MISSOULA—The pastor of the United Pentecostal Church in Butte was sentenced today to five years of probation and ordered to pay $288,757 for embezzling from the church organization over a four-year period, U.S. Attorney Kurt Alme said.

Kenneth Emmett Hogue, 66, of Butte, pleaded guilty in August to wire fraud.

Chief U.S. District Judge Dana L. Christensen presided.

The prosecution said in court documents filed in the case that Hogue began serving as pastor of the United Pentecostal Church in Butte in 1982. In April 2012, Hogue was elected secretary/treasurer of the Rocky Mountain District of the UPC. Hogue’s duties as secretary/treasurer included making church offering deposits at the bank, writing checks for church expenses, maintaining financial records and preparing annual financial statements in conjunction with the church’s annual conferences.

From June 2012 to July 2016, Hogue embezzled $288,757 from the church. He admitted the fraud to church personnel and during an FBI interview in March 2018. Hogue carried out the scheme by using a debit card that belonged to the District to withdraw cash from ATMs, by issuing an unauthorized check to himself from a District bank account and by opening a new bank account in the name of the District, without permission, and transferring money into that account. He later removed the transferred money using ATM transactions.

Assistant U. S. Attorney Tim Racicot prosecuted the case, which was investigated by the FBI.