Pastor Paul Mitchell, of West Hempstead, pleads guilty to tax evasion and using millions in church funds to pay personal bills

A pastor from West Hempstead accused of using millions of dollars from his Brooklyn church and an affiliated day care to pay for jewelry, clothing, credit card bills and other personal expenses pleaded guilty to tax evasion on Tuesday.

Pastor Paul Mitchell, of the Changing Lives Christian Center in East New York, failed to pay more than $2.9 million in federal taxes and more than $316,000 in state taxes on income he withdrew from church and day care accounts between 2015 and 2022, federal prosecutors said. The government also accused Mitchell of failing to report more than $5.2 million in gross receipts on tax forms.

Mitchell, 60, acknowledged that he filed fraudulent tax returns and that he used money from the church and its day care facility for his own use during a hearing on Tuesday in Brooklyn federal court before U.S. Chief Magistrate Vera M. Scanlon.

"I made personal purchases with the entities’ resources," Mitchell admitted after Scanlon prodded him to explain why he was guilty.

Scanlon released Mitchell on his own recognizance. He faces up to 5 years in prison when sentenced.

"The defendant treated his organizations’ accounts as his own personal piggy bank, stealing millions of dollars and betraying the trust of his congregation and those dependent on the services provided to the community," said Joseph Nocella Jr., the U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of New York.

Mitchell’s attorney, Roger V. Archibald, of Brooklyn, did not return a request for comment.

Mitchell was a banker for 14 years before he became a pastor in 2003, according to the Changing Lives Christian Center’s website.

"Pastor Mitchell is a man of integrity and uprightness," the website said. "He’s a giver of himself. Most importantly, he is a man of God that seeks to honor and obey God in all his ways."

According to court papers, Mitchell spent more than $929,000 on life insurance policies for him and his wife between 2015 and 2022. He also used more than $43,000 in Changing Lives Christian Center funds to pay for state and federal taxes, the papers said.

Mitchell used day care funds to buy a $795 luxury watch in 2015 and $1,059 for rings in 2017, the court papers said. He used $887 in day care money at a men’s clothing store in 2017, officials said. In 2018, he spent more than $6,100 in church and day care money to buy a 14K gold engagement ring and a 14K gold 1-carat diamond ring, prosecutors said.

Mitchell also wrote checks from the church’s bank account to pay thousands of dollars in credit card bills, the papers said.

Mitchell waived his right to have the case brought to a grand jury. Scanlon told the pastor the plea deal will have to be approved by a district court judge, who will also sentence him. A sentencing date has not been scheduled but Scanlon ordered Mitchell to return to federal court in Brooklyn for a status conference on Jan. 16.

Scanlon told Mitchell, who was born in Jamaica and is a naturalized U.S. citizen, that he could lose his American citizenship as a result of his guilty plea.