Former director of Wichita church sentenced for embezzling more than $100 thousand

The former executive director of Inter-Faith Ministries in Wichita has been sentenced to probation for embezzling more than $100,000 from the church.

Sixty-six-year-old Garland Egerton, of Wichita, was sentenced Tuesday to five years of probation, with an underlying prison sentence of 32 months.

Egerton pleaded guilty in February to one count of theft.

District Attorney March Bennett said in a news release that Egerton’s lack of criminal history and a request from the church were factors in granting him probation.

Egerton also was ordered to pay $129,556 in restitution, to have no contact with the Unity of Wichita Church and to attend a theft offender class.

An audit found that $120,000 went missing from the church between 2013 and 2018. Egerton was the church’s bookkeeper at the time.