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A Dallas-area pastor was sentenced to 35 years for property theft involving three churches.

Whitney Foster led True Foundation Non-Denominational Church, a small congregation without a physical place of worship. According to the charges brought against him, Foster stole the real estate from three churches by filing fraudulent deeds, listing a fake leader for the victim churches as the grantors and naming his church in his own name as the grantee.

The combined value of the affected properties – First Christian Church of Lancaster and, in Dallas, Canada Drive Christian Church and Church at Nineveh – exceeds $800,000. Two of the properties are still under the name of the defendant or his church, with his congregation actively gathering at one of them, while the third property is in the midst of legal complications based on Foster’s fraud.

“Stealing real estate is an incredibly serious and damaging crime – it’s worse than the theft of someone’s vehicle or other possessions,” said Dallas County Criminal District Attorney John Creuzot. “When someone steals property, we must hold them accountable because they are hurting people.”

During the punishment phase of the trial, the jury was presented with evidence of seven additional fraudulent deeds displaying the same characteristics as the three charged deeds. The jury was also made aware of Foster’s prior convictions identity theft in 2011 and arson in 1995.

In addition to his prison sentence, Foster was also ordered to pay an $8,000 fine.

Photo courtesy Whitney Foster’s Facebook page