He is only receiving probation.
Brian Keith Herring, a former pastor of the Assemblies of God and city councilman in Harrison, Arkansas, was sentenced to 17 years of probation and 800 hours of community service after pleading guilty to embezzling more than $500,000 from Harrison Faith Church. He was also ordered to pay $100,000 in restitution to the church for his offenses. Herring faced charges that included theft of property, second-degree forgery, and tampering with physical evidence after investigators discovered his fraudulent activities involving church funds in 2021.
The investigation began when a church representative reported that over $333,000 had gone missing from multiple accounts, and the church had lost access to its credit card accounts. Herring, who returned several factory-reset devices belonging to the church, was found to have made unauthorized credit card purchases and other transactions totaling $524,634. When authorities initially tried to locate him, Herring’s home was empty and listed for sale.
Herring, who had been working at Brand New Church in Arkansas, later claimed that the accusations stemmed from a former friend within the church who had personal grievances against him. He alleged that this individual, after being elected to the church’s board, sought to have him removed as pastor. When those efforts failed, Herring said the individual took his claims to denominational leaders, resulting in Herring’s removal without his side of the story being heard.
Reflecting on the impact of the scandal, Herring expressed the emotional toll it took on his family, as they were forced to leave the church where his children had grown up. He also claimed that the church had accused him of mishandling funds by retroactively disputing credit card charges made during his tenure as pastor. Prior to these criminal charges, court records showed Herring had previously filed for bankruptcy three times between 1995 and 2008.