Tulsa Pastor Pleads Guilty: Former Vernon AME Leader Keith Rydell Mayes Sr. Admits to $504K Fraud

Former Vernon AME Church Senior Pastor Keith Rydell Mayes Sr. has pleaded guilty to federal bank fraud and tax evasion after prosecutors accused him of embezzling more than $504,000 from the historic Tulsa church.

Mayes, 63, pleaded guilty on September 14, 2026, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Oklahoma (Tulsa County), according to the U.S. Attorney''s Office. The case is No. 4:26-cr-00324, assigned to Judge Sara E. Hill.

Prosecutors said Mayes was hired as senior pastor of Vernon AME Church in October 2021 and was responsible for overseeing church finances and managing donations, collections and disbursements.

Shortly after joining the church, Mayes opened a new bank account titled "Administrative Expenses," court documents show. He was the account''s only authorized signer and used his personal residence as the mailing address, then solicited and deposited voluntary donations from church members and charitable organizations into that account.

In one instance outlined by prosecutors, a church donor and the donor''s financial adviser contacted Mayes about making a stock donation to the church. Mayes opened a brokerage account in the church''s name and received $365,000 in stock transfers from the donor in 2021 and 2022. He liquidated the stock, deposited the proceeds into the church''s bank account, and embezzled most of the money for personal use, the documents show.

From at least March 2022 through at least November 2025, Mayes embezzled more than $504,000, prosecutors said. Court documents state he used the stolen money to support a gambling habit, pay personal expenses and purchase firearms.

Mayes did not report the embezzled money as income to the Internal Revenue Service, leaving more than $205,000 in unpaid federal taxes, according to prosecutors. The U.S. Attorney''s Office identified the unpaid tax amount as $205,765.60.

Under his plea agreement, Mayes agreed to repay $504,313.88 — including the $205,765.60 owed to the IRS — and to forfeit firearms and ammunition purchased with the embezzled funds. His sentencing hearing has not yet been scheduled.

In a statement relayed through his attorney to the Tulsa World, Mayes accepted full responsibility for his conduct and said he "will pay a great price for his transgressions." He added, according to the World: "He offers no excuses except to say please do not let my personal weakness in any way shape or form distract from the great things that the most historic Black church in this great country has achieved and will continue to achieve."

Vernon AME Church sits in Tulsa''s Historic Greenwood District. The church was founded in 1905, and the basement of its current building was constructed in 1919. During the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre, people sought refuge in the church''s basement. The current sanctuary was completed in 1925. The church says Vernon AME is the only intact, standing Black-owned structure remaining from the Historic Black Wall Street era.

Wille Sells, the owner of Tee''s Barber Shop, a longtime Black-owned Greenwood business about 700 feet from the church, told NewsOn6 that the news was difficult to hear. "That''s tough because the church is important to the community, and the pastor is important to the church," he said. "All we can do is pray and trust that things work out for the best for all of them."

The case follows a broader pattern of financial pressure on established Black churches. Earlier this month, Beacon Light International Baptist Cathedral in New Orleans — led by Bishop Darryl S. Brister — was sold at a sheriff''s auction to Liberty Bank and Trust Company for $1.53 million after two Chapter 11 filings were dismissed. In Brooklyn, Pleasant Grove Tabernacle, led by Bishop Albert L. Jamison Sr., is seeking to sell its historic property through its own Chapter 11 case.

For Vernon AME, the embezzlement strikes a congregation whose building survived the 1921 massacre. The case raises the same question now echoing across church communities: how do congregations protect the financial stewardship of the house while preserving the ministry it sustains?