The pastor of a Westfield, N.J., church could face five years in prison for admitting to knowingly omitting information on the Medicaid application of a parishioner regarding a property sale where the clergyman benefited financially.

Kevin Clark

Kevin Clark, 53, the pastor at Bethel Baptist Church, pleaded guilty Jan. 25 to third-degree counts of Medicaid fraud and tampering with public records, according to the New Jersey Attorney General’s Office.

Clark was indicted by a Union County, N.J., grand jury on the counts in November 2009.

In his guilty plea, Clark admitted that on Nov. 17, 2004, he falsely completed, signed and submitted a Medicaid application for an elderly parishioner. That form, official said, required Clark to list the sale of all real property by the parishioner and any cash given away by the applicant within the past three years.

Clark admitted that he failed to provide information that the parishioner had sold a piece of real estate for $138,038 and that he received the cash from the sale.

Sentencing is scheduled for April 9 in Union County Superior Court.