UPDATE: John Bishop’s sentencing was set over a third time; it is now expected Sept. 21.
UPDATE: John Bishop’s sentencing was set over a second time to Aug. 20. This time, there was a scheduling conflict with the judge, court documents show.
UPDATE: John Bishop’s sentencing was set over in April to June 22.
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John Bishop, who for nearly two decades led Vancouver’s Living Hope Church, pleaded guilty to a federal drug charge Thursday for trying to smuggle more than 280 pounds of marijuana into the country from Mexico.
Bishop’s plea agreement was not available Thursday evening. However, Kelly Thornton, director of media relations with the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of California, confirmed that Bishop pleaded guilty to unlawful importation of a controlled substance-marijuana, a felony.
He will be sentenced May 11 in U.S. District Court in Southern California. Bishop, 54, is facing a minimum sentence of five years and maximum of 40 years in prison, Thornton said.
The former Vancouver pastor was arrested Dec. 11 after he was stopped about 5:25 a.m. by U.S. Customs and Border Protection while re-entering the country through the port of entry at San Ysidro, Calif. Bishop reportedly told Border Patrol agents he was driving to Chula Vista, Calif., according to a probable cause affidavit filed in the case.
An officer found packages hidden in a wheel well of Bishop’s gray Volkswagen Jetta while conducting a routine inspection. A narcotics detection dog was summoned and subsequently alerted officers to the undercarriage and trunk of the car, the affidavit states.
After taking the car apart, officers found 105 packages weighing 281.88 pounds that field-tested positive for marijuana. Packages were removed from the car’s bumpers, rear seat, dashboard and at least one wheel well, the court document said.
Bishop was taken into federal custody but was released Jan. 9, according to the Federal Bureau of Prisons website. Court records indicate he had posted $25,000 bond.
He was originally scheduled for trial Thursday but filed notice Tuesday that he intended to change his plea, court filings show.
Bishop and his wife, Michelle, started Living Hope Church in 1996, which grew to be one of Clark County’s largest, boasting thousands of worshippers each week.
But after 19 years, Bishop stepped down as senior pastor in November 2015 after allegations of moral indiscretions. The church did not go into detail about the indiscretions, but Bishop had said he went “off the grid” while on a mission trip over the summer of 2015 in Los Cabos, Mexico, and planned to seek alcohol abuse treatment, according to Columbian archives. He and his wife owned a vacation home there, court records show.
His wife filed a petition for legal separation Jan. 2 in Clark County Superior Court, which states that Bishop now lives in San Diego.
