A Kenner pastor is at the center of a federal case that accuses him of quietly draining more than $343,000 from a company’s bank account over four years, using a debit card prosecutors say he was never authorized to touch.
The indictment, unsealed last Tuesday in New Orleans federal court, names 56-year-old Dale Sanders and alleges that from April 2020 through April 2024 he used an unauthorized debit card tied to a business account to obtain about $343,293. If a jury convicts him, he could be staring at years in federal prison, hefty fines and other penalties.
U.S. Attorney David I. Courcelle announced the case in a press release, saying Sanders was charged in an eleven-count indictment with access device fraud and obstruction of a federal investigation, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Louisiana. Prosecutors say Sanders repeatedly used the debit card for “Company A’s” account to pull roughly $343,293 over the four-year span. The Federal Bureau of Investigation handled the investigation, and Assistant U.S. Attorney Kathryn McHugh of the Financial Crimes Unit is prosecuting the case.
Local coverage has filled in some of the real-world stakes if those charges stick. WDSU reports that Sanders, identified as a Kenner resident, faces up to 20 years in prison, a fine of up to $250,000, up to three years of supervised release and a $100 special assessment fee under the charges listed in the indictment.
As the case landed in the headlines, Sanders did not go completely quiet. He posted on social media in recent days and offered a brief scriptural response to the swirl of allegations. According to ChurchLeaders, Sanders wrote, “The Bible says, ‘Pray for them that despitefully use you and say all manner of evil against you falsely for my namesake,’” adding a short blessing. ChurchLeaders reported that it reached out to Sanders for comment and would update its coverage if he responds.
What Prosecutors Allege
In the courtroom version of this story, prosecutors say Sanders used an “unauthorized access device,” described as the debit card linked to Company A’s account, to make withdrawals and other transactions totaling about $343,293, as set out by the U.S. Attorney’s Office. The eleven-count indictment cites 18 U.S.C. § 1029 and 18 U.S.C. § 1519 and includes multiple counts of access device fraud along with a count of obstruction of a federal investigation. Federal prosecutors underscored in the release that an indictment is only a set of allegations and that Sanders is presumed innocent unless and until the government proves otherwise in court.
Potential Penalties and Next Steps
Federal law gives judges plenty of room to come down hard in cases like this. The access device fraud statute, 18 U.S.C. § 1029, sets out several types of offenses involving unauthorized use of cards and similar devices and provides different maximum sentences depending on the subsection. The obstruction statute, 18 U.S.C. § 1519, which covers falsifying or destroying records in connection with a federal investigation, carries a maximum penalty of up to 20 years in prison. The full text of those statutes is available at 18 U.S.C. § 1029 and 18 U.S.C. § 1519. Local reporting has also noted the specific penalties prosecutors listed for Sanders, and future filings in federal court will clarify how those provisions might apply if the case moves toward trial or a plea.
For now, the case remains pending in federal court in New Orleans. Prosecutors say the FBI helped carry out the investigation, and from here the matter will move through the usual federal pipeline. Upcoming entries on the court docket will show when Sanders is arraigned and how prosecutors and the defense choose to proceed.
