A minister/business owner has been sentenced to 34 months in prison and ordered to pay almost half a million dollars in restitution to the State of North Carolina.

You see, during the recession, he came up with this really great way to save money.

First, he pretended to lay off his employees.

Then, he had the "laid-off" employees file for unemployment. Even though they were still working for him.

Instead of real wages, they got unemployment compensation.

What a divinely inspired idea!

The original indictment of the Rev. Kent Covington of the Word of Faith Fellowship in Spindale, NC, alleged that for roughly four and a half years, the North Carolina Division of Employment Security paid about $250,000 in unemployment benefits to people who should have been paid by one or more of the Reverend's companies. The Reverend pled guilty and was sentenced last week.

But wait! There's more! 

His wife is reportedly facing criminal charges in an unrelated matter. According to the Daily Mail, Mrs. Covington is charged with helping to assault a member of the Fellowship "in an effort to expel his 'homosexual demons.'"

These blog posts just write themselves.

Image Credit: From flickr, Creative Commons license, by Steve Jurgetson.