Baptist pastor sentenced to prison
From staff reports
A Baptist pastor from Salisbury has reportedly been sentenced to prison for his role in a mortgage fraud scheme before he became a minister.
Billy Ray Johnson, pastor of High Rock Community Church, was sentenced to 25 months in federal prison but could receive a lighter sentence because he is cooperating with investigators, the Salisbury Post reported.
Johnson pleaded guilty in 2005 to defrauding lenders of $1.2 million when he did business as Ray Johnson Realty, Inc., according to the newspaper. The crimes took place between 2000 and 2002 in Mecklenburg County.
Church members and others in the Salisbury area had asked the judge to be lenient. Johnson could have received 37 to 46 months in prison.
Johnson was also ordered to pay $912,543.63 in restitution to BB &T and will be placed under supervised probation for three years after he gets out of prison. Johnson and his lawyer told the Post that Johnson and the bank have reached a settlement for less than the full amount, but wouldn't say what it was.
Johnson told the newspaper that two church members loaned him about 20 percent of the settlement amount with the rest coming from sources he could not name.
"Our church has just been so amazingly supportive," Johnson said. "The church has shown tremendous grace and love and I believe it to be Christlike love."
The Post reported that Coy Privette, a member of the Baptist State Convention's Executive Committee and a Cabarrus County commissioner, was among 100 people to attend a hearing to support Johnson. Robert Tenery, a retired Baptist minister from Mocksville, two members of the N.C. General Assembly, the Rowan County sheriff and church members wrote letters supporting Johnson, according to the paper.
Johnson was the founding pastor at High Rock Community Church when it was planted in 2004. The church has grown from five families in the beginning to more than 500 in weekly attendance, according to the Post. The church established a satellite church in Denton about a year ago.
Johnson said he was open with the congregation about the charges and even offered to resign.
"They said they wanted me to continue as their pastor," he told the Post. "The events that transpired that led to those charges happened over five years ago. ... It has absolutely nothing to do with the church."
