A former Jones County pastor was indicted last month for using his influence as a religious leader to con his members out of their money.

James L. ‘Jimmy’ Collins Jr. was indicted in Bibb County Superior Court Dec. 9 with Steven Pittman, who, according to the indictment, was a former employee of BB&T Bank in Macon.

Collins, 42, was the pastor of God’s Worship Center on Gray Highway from July 5, 2002, until May 16, 2008, when he moved to Bibb County. He was in Macon at the time of his arrest Dec. 15 and was released on bond Dec. 18. Collins and Pittman are charged under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organization (RICO) Act.

Prior to starting a church in Jones County, Collins was the manager of One Stop, Too, a used car lot in Gray.

Collins and Pittman are being charged for their involvement in God’s Worship Center, One Step Program, and Car Vision, a car lot that was operated in connection with the church.

The indictment states that Pittman’s position as a bank officer with BB&T Bank was used to obtain loans and lines of credit, and Collins used his position as pastor of the church to solicit the financial resources of church members.

It was also part of the scheme to approach church members and convince them to sign financial documents to ‘assist the church’ by convincing them it was their ‘Christian duty’ and they needed to obtain this loan in order to fulfill ‘God’s will for their lives’.

The document states that, after convincing the victims to sign for the loans, Collins would contact Pittman to arrange the financial transactions, and the victims were assured that the church would assume the financial risk.

The indictment includes charges for attempted bank fraud and states that Collins and Pittman attempted to defraud Piedmont Community Bank with a scheme to obtain money by means of false or fraudulent pretenses.

The loans obtained from BB&T by members of Collins’ church total $617,916.85, and the fraud involves conventional loans, mortgage loans, and forgery. In addition to convincing church members to make the loans, additional purchase agreements were forged in the names of alleged purchasers.

The RICO charges also include theft by taking, criminal attempt to commit theft by taking, and theft by deception, involving $634,916.

In addition to the Bibb County indictment, Collins and Pittman face at least one lawsuit from two of their victims. The civil suit also names BB&T.