Background checks reveal a pastor charged with stealing more than $250,000 last year from the food bank his church operated has an extensive criminal history.
James Gill / Courtesy of Tennessee Bureau of Investigation
James Neal Gill, 82, of Gallatin, Tennessee, was a prominent member of his community. For 14 years, he served as the director of the Sumner County Food Bank, an extension of Liberty Church where he pastored. The community knew Gill as an active servant, often volunteering and extending his hand to the needy. However, an investigation reveals he was using the other hand to stash donations into his pocket.
Last year, MinistryWatch reported that the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation (TBI) initiated an investigation after deacons at Liberty Church discovered exorbitant checks written from the food bank to unexplained beneficiaries.
On June 8, 2023, Gill turned himself in to the TBI, who arrested and charged him with one count of theft of property over $250,000, one count of money laundering, and one count of patronizing prostitution.
According to MainStreet News, prosecutors have since discovered previous criminal convictions in Gill’s past.
In January of 1980, Gill, then a police officer in Jackson, Missouri, broke into a Jackson hardware store and silver outlet, stealing $500,000 in silver flatware and a candelabra. He, along with a partner, took the silver to Memphis to sell it, but they were caught.
The FBI arrested Gill for transporting stolen goods across state lines, while the State of Mississippi arrested him for non-residential felony burglary. The State of Mississippi sentenced him to seven years, with four suspended and three to serve.
He entered a guilty plea to the federal charges and received a three-year sentence that would run concurrently with his Mississippi sentence.
In January 1993, Gill was also convicted of Medicaid fraud in Nashville.
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Within a month of Gill’s arrest last year, TBI indicted three more food bank volunteers—James “Downey” Brawner, Tonya Rosales, and Penny Maughon—for allegedly stealing sums ranging from $10,000 to $260,000.
On Dec. 4, Brawner pleaded “no contest” and agreed to pay $117,000 in restitution. A week later, Maughon entered a plea of “best interest” and agreed to pay $40,000 in restitution to the food bank. Rosales’ next court date is August 22, 2024.
Following Sumner County Food Bank’s closure, First Baptist Church of Hendersonville—a church in a neighboring town—took over food bank operations for the county under a new and separate charity created to feed those who once relied on Gill’s organization.
Gill’s next court date for settlement will take place on July 22, 2024.
EDITOR’S NOTE: Why does MinistryWatch report on financial fraud in the church? We report on them because one in three churches will be victimized, according to the Center for the Study of Global Christianity. We also report on them because these crimes have real victims and cost taxpayers and other stakeholders billions of dollars every year. Even small crimes in small churches have huge consequences. We also report on them to remind our readers that they do not have to be victims. There are steps you can take to prevent financial waste, fraud, and abuse in your church or ministry. To find out more, click here.
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