A former choir director at a Temecula church got probation and work release for embezzling about $20,000.
Jared Lee Burkholder, 34, was sentenced to three years probation and 180 days jail time, which he will serve in a work release program, according to court records. He was also ordered to pay back the money he stole from his employer, Calvary Baptist Church.
Burkholder worked for the church for a decade and ran a ministry for young families, according to the Press-Enterprise.
Burkholder sent a letter to church leaders asking for forgiveness, which was granted, according to the record.
“He did come before the congregation and he did confess his sins,” Pastor William Rench told the Press-Enterprise.
Burkholder, who is his son-in-law, started repaying the money and sought counseling from a pastor at another church. “He, up to this point, seems to have real genuine remorse,” Rench told the paper.
