U.S. District Judge Frank Whitney has set Oct. 7 as the sentencing date for Anthony and Harriet Jinwright.
The Jinwrights, co-pastors of Greater Salem City of God, were convinced May 3 on multiple counts related to federal tax evasion.
Bishop Anthony Jinwright will be sentenced first, 9 a.m. His wife, Harriet, will face Judge Whitney at 10:30 a.m.
Court records indicate that the government has completed its pre-sentencing reports for both Jinwrights. Those records are sealed.
Anthony Jinwright, 53 at the time of his conviction, faces a possible 50-plus years in prison.
Harriet Jinwright, age 50 when convicted on four of 13 charges, faces a possible 20 years.
The Jinwrights were indicted on charges that they failed to report more than $1.8 million in income on their federal tax returns between 2001 and 2007. That number eventually was increased to $2.3 million. During those same years, prosecutors alleged, the couple received more than $5 million in compensation from the west Charlotte church. Prosecutors estimated that the Jinwrights owe the federal government nearly $700,000.
Witnesses in the four-week trial testified that the Jinwrights routinely collected “love offerings” from Greater Salem then took the money home in bags. Others testified that the couple used church money to lease luxury cars, pay for vacations, and to pay their daughter’s college tuition. Much of that money went unreported on federal tax returns, the government said.
The Jinwrights were the government’s second high-profile case in Charlotte in the last three years involving an African American preacher.
In September 2007, the Rev. John Walker, pastor of Macedonia Baptist Church, pleaded guilty to tax evasion, bank fraud and lying to federal agents. He was sentenced to more than five years in federal prison by Judge Frank Whitney, who also presided over the Jinwright trial.
Anthony Jinwright was jailed immediately after conviction while his wife was allowed to remain free. In July Whitney rejected a request by Anthony Jinwright to be released on bond.
Click here to see our complete coverage of the Jinwright trial and aftermath.
