Pastor-Embezzlement Charge

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. (AP) - The former pastor of a North Carolina church has entered pleas to embezzling more than $100,000 from the Winston-Salem church.

Fifty-nine-year-old Wendell Johnson entered Alford pleas Thursday to nine counts of embezzlement stemming from his 20-year tenure as pastor at First Baptist Church. An Alford plea does not admit guilt, but acknowledges there is enough evidence for a conviction.

Johnson was charged in 2005 after a police investigation. He resigned after the investigation was announced.

Judge William Z. Wood Jr. sentenced Johnson to five years of probation and he has agreed to repay more than $120,000.

Johnson did not speak at the hearing and would not talk about the case afterward.