WARREN — An Austintown man pleaded guilty Monday to stealing several thousand dollars from a Vienna church.

Michael P. Emery, 36, pleaded to an amended indictment of theft before Trumbull County Common Pleas Judge Cynthia Westcott Rice.

According to a police report, the treasurer of Vienna United Methodist Church told officers that Emery had been forging signatures of church council members on checks to be used at the church for repairs that never came to fruition, and wasn’t authorized by church council members.

The treasurer and other council members, the report stated, had printed out copies of bank statements, scanned copies of the checks and tallied a rough estimate of money missing from the church account.

According to assistant Prosecutor Charles Morrow, a statement by a representative from the church said the thefts occurred from February 2022 to June 2022. An initial estimate back in July 2022, according to the report, set the amount at $20,000 but the final total came to $38,827, which Emery agreed during the hearing to pay back.

A sentencing will be scheduled for Emery after a presentence investigation.