A former Alabama Baptist pastor faces money laundering and other charges after allegedly paying a state senator with state funds in exchange for help getting grants.
Samuel Pettagrue, former pastor of Sardis Missionary Baptist Church, Birmingham, in Birmingham Baptist Association, was indicted May 16 on 31 counts of money laundering, 14 counts of mail fraud, one count of conspiracy and one count of bribery, according to The Birmingham News. Sen. E.B. McClain faces the same charges.
The two also are named in two criminal forfeiture counts involving more than $426,000 in government money lost through the schemes, according to the News.
McClain, a 21-year veteran of the Legislature, is accused of guiding state grants toward Pettagrue’s nonprofit Heritage to Hope Foundation. Only about a fourth of the money went to help poor senior adults and provide tutoring for teens and adults studying for their GED, the News reported.
The federal indictment states Pettagrue paid McClain more than $305,000 for the grants over five years, as well as paying himself and his son more than $120,000.
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