God Is My Co-Defendant: Criminal Defense in Florida Proves To Be Less Than Divine

John Haskew of Lakeland, Florida presented a novel defense to his charge of diverting $7 billion from a bank. Haskew told the court that he was justified in making the transfer because “Jesus Christ created wealth for everyone.”  He has now given up the ghost of waiting for divine judgment and pleaded guilty.

He is facing a maximum sentence of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

While Haskew told investigators “he believed he could obtain wealth that Jesus Christ created for him,”prosecutors insists that it was not divinity but debt that led to the crimes.  Haskew was in debt to the federal government.  He used a  bank routing number to fraudulently make  70 transactions worth $7 billion with that routing number.

The result is a criminal stint without chance of divine intervention.