OAKLAND, Calif. (CN) — After three years of fighting his case in federal court, a former bishop of the historic African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church pleaded guilty on Tuesday to defrauding congregations throughout California by pocketing the proceeds of more than $14 million in loans obtained by fraudulently mortgaging church properties.
Staccato Powell, 65, entered his new guilty plea at a hearing before U.S. District Judge Jeffrey S. White in Oakland, California.
“Are you pleading guilty of your own free will because you are, in fact, guilty of these charges?” White asked the former church leader…