By Bob Allen
The former chief financial officer at Wayland Baptist University received five years in prison after pleading guilty to using university funds for personal expenses.
The Amarillo Globe-News reported April 22 that James E. Smith, fired last year by the Baptist General Convention of Texas-affiliated school located in Plainview, Texas, entered his guilty plea April 17.
University officials filed a civil lawsuit last April alleging that Smith confessed to embezzling about $40,000 over a four-year period. He allegedly used the money to pay personal debts, including credit cards, and falsified records to conceal the misuse of funds.
University officials began an internal investigation after a financial review of one campus building renovation and construction of Jimmy Dean Hall, a new men’s dormitory. The dormitory is named after a country music singer and television host popular in the 1960s, now better known for the sausage company he founded in 1969.
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