A third plea deadline has been set in the case of a former church treasurer accused of stealing tens of thousands of dollars from a local church.
On Monday, the new plea deadline for Silas Edward “Eddie” Sams was set for July 14. Sams has been charged with theft of property over $60,000 and nine counts of forgery.
Sams was indicted on Nov. 8, 2013, and then arraigned on Nov. 25, on the felony charge after an investigation was started by the Carter County Sheriff’s Department after funds were reported missing from the church.
“The church found discrepancies and brought it to our attention and filed the report,” said Sheriff Chris Mathes at the time the charges were originally filed. “We began the investigation into looking at those reports. In working with church officials, we identified several withdrawals which totaled, over several years, in excess of $100,000.”
According to Mathes, some of those withdrawals his investigators uncovered were checks that Sams had written to himself on behalf of the church.
The original plea deadline was set for Jan. 31, and was then reset for Monday morning.