A pastor who once served at Plymouth Community Church turned himself in to police, on Friday, admitting he diverted church funds to settle his personal credit card debts.

The Marshall County Sheriff’s office issued a warrant for Darek Morris, 34, of Walkerton. The alleged embezzlement took place between January 2020 and was brought to light a year ago and led to Morris being fired.

It was determined that a total of nearly $101,000 had been unlawfully withdrawn from the church account, in addition to Morris’s agreed-upon salary. More than $57,000 worth of transactions were traced back to credit cards registered under Morris’s name, with the payments directly originating from the church account.

Morris is charged with theft exceeding $50,000, as a Level 5 felony offense.