Milwaukee church theft; employee pleads guilty, sentenced, fined

MILWAUKEE - A Milwaukee woman pleaded guilty to theft for embezzling from her employer, Shiloh Baptist Church near 51st and Capitol on the city’s north side. Prosecutors say Mary Moton told police she lost the money when she invested in Bitcoin.

Moton faced two felonies; one count of forgery and one count of theft from a business setting, greater than $10,000 to $100,000. On Thursday, May 4, she pleaded guilty to the theft charge – and the forgery charge was dismissed and read into the court record for the purposes of sentencing. 

Shiloh Missionary Baptist Church, Milwaukee

The judge then sentenced Moton to four days in the House of Correction – with four days credit for time served. Moton is also ordered to pay a fine of $1,000 as well as $11,735 in restitution to Shiloh Baptist Church.

Case details

According to prosecutors, Moton had been with the church for 11 years, but for an unknown reason, she started cutting checks for herself in April 2022. Three months later, authorities say she had embezzled more than $30,000.

Court records show Moton was the church’s financial secretary. Prosecutors say police went to the church on Aug. 1 after the bank told the church multiple checks were bouncing. Investigators say it did not take long to discover Moton wrote multiple checks to herself.

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Prosecutors say Moton admitted to the theft in two police interviews, but any hope of recovering the stolen funds is gone. Moton told police she lost all the money when she invested it in Bitcoin. 

Church financial trustees told police they did not sign their names on the checks and did not approve them.