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	Former Lubbock Pastor Gets Nearly 20-Year Sentence for Fraud, Sex Crimes By Logan G. Carver Avalanche-Journal May 13, 2008 http://lubbockonline.com/stories/051308/loc_278438321.shtml A federal judge sentenced James Cornell Clark to nearly 20 years in prison on Monday for financial crimes and for bringing a Kenyan woman to the United States and forcing her to have sex with him. After several delays by Clark and two different trials, U.S. District Judge Sam Cummings issued the myriad sentences. Clark's attorney filed notice of appeal Monday afternoon. Found guilty by juries in two different cases of 42 counts, Clark received a total of 535 months in federal prison and 31 years' probation. The sentences, however, will run concurrently, meaning Clark will spend 235 months in prison before beginning his supervised release. He also must pay restitution monthly. "In light of the defendant's reprehensible conduct in both cases - particularly his hypocritical misuse and abuse of his position as a Christian minister, we feel the 235-month sentence, which is the top end of the guidelines for imprisonment, is appropriate and warranted," said Dick Baker, assistant U.S. attorney. Clark was convicted on 41 counts of fraud in January, including money laundering and mail fraud. While serving as preacher of Mount Vernon United Methodist Church, Clark misrepresented the church as being the nonprofit sponsor of the Department of Agriculture Summer Food Program. He was convicted of bilking $586,347 from the program, which provides meals for needy children during the summer months when they do not have access to the National School Lunch/School Breakfast Program. Clark was convicted of laundering the money through bogus corporations, such as the Mt. Vernon Faith-in-Action Outreach Project and Trinity Christian Outreach Ministries, and putting it to personal use. Clark on Monday received five years' probation for each of the bogus entities he created to perpetrate the fraud. A different jury in December 2007 convicted Clark of importing an alien for immoral purposes. He brought the woman from Kenya and offered to pay her college tuition. He then forced her to have sex with him and threatened to deport her if she refused. In December, the woman testified Clark forced her to perform painful sexual acts, causing her to became physically ill during sex with him on one occasion. Clark called her testimony lies when he addressed the court on Monday. "If I had sex with her anally and she vomited, may the Lord strike me dead and I'll rot in hell," Clark said. During the Monday morning hearing, Baker asked Cummings to enhance Clark's punishment because he threatened the woman with death or serious bodily injury if she would not have sex with him. Helen Liggett, Clark's attorney, said in court the woman was not an innocent victim. "She was a prostitute," Liggett said. "This is a woman who, for a living, had sex with old men." Cummings sided with Baker, enhancing the sentence. Liggett said she will now begin the appeal process. She filed notice on Monday afternoon of appeal on the importation count to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. She expressed her dissatisfaction with the sentence and referenced testimony from the December trial indicating the Kenyan woman was manipulating men in an effort to stay in the U.S. "I think it was unduly harsh because in reality (the woman) is more a victimizer than a victim," Liggett said. "And I truly hope we get her out of our country before she is able to lure any more of our young servicemen into a relationship for her own immigration advantage." To comment on this story: logan.carver@lubbockonline.com 766-8704, james.gallagher@lubbockonline.com 766-8706.
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