LEXINGTON, Ky. – A Georgetown, Ky., man, Ralph Tackett, 66, was sentenced to 33 months in federal prison on Monday, by Chief U.S. District Judge Danny C. Reeves, for wire fraud.
According to the agreed facts presented, Tackett was the treasurer of a church in Georgetown, who embezzled a total of $512,042.00, in part through the commission of wire fraud. Tackett admitted, among other facts, that from December 2015 until July of 2019, he stole money directly from the church, by transferring funds to pay on his personal credit cards, by issuing checks which he deposited into his own personal and business accounts for his own benefit, and by unlawfully transferring money in other ways, to meet the demands of a third-party. Throughout this time, Tackett concealed the true nature of the church’s expenditures from the church Pastor and Board members, by exploiting his position of trust and the access he wielded as the organization’s treasurer. The church endured substantial financial hardship as a result of Tackett’s theft.
As part of his sentence, Tackett was ordered to pay restitution in the amount of $532,807.46 to the church. This amount includes the amount of money he embezzled directly, as well as the additional costs the church was found to have incurred as a direct result of Tackett’s crime.
Under federal law, Tackett must serve 85 percent of his prison sentence; and upon his release from prison, he will be under the supervision of the U.S. Probation Office for three years.
Carlton S. Shier, IV, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Kentucky and Jodi Cohen, Special Agent in Charge, FBI, Louisville Field Office, jointly announced the sentence.
The investigation was conducted by the FBI. The United States was represented by Assistant United States Attorney Tashena A. Fannin.
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