Chapel Hill man sentenced to 57 months for embezzling more than $146K from UNC Newman Center

CHAPEL HILL (WTVD) -- A Chapel Hill man has been sentenced to 57 months in federal prison after he pleaded guilty to several charges including bank fraud.

Brian Cansler was sentenced on November 17 after he admitted he was guilty of charges relating to his tenure as financial director of the UNC Newman Center Catholic Student Parish, a Catholic student ministry and parish located at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Cansler worked for the UNC Student Parish in various roles from February 2014 to July of 2016, including serving as the financial director.

Court records show the man exploited his position as finance director to defraud the UNC Parish by obtaining $8,000 through two parish checks made payable to himself in the amounts of $4,500 and $3,500.

Stay on top of breaking news stories with the ABC11 News App

He forged the signature of then serving pastor onto both fraudulent checks and presented them for payment from the UNC Parish's account at PNC Bank.

He also fraudulently misused a Bank of America card and a PNC Bank credit card issued to the UNC Student Parish for official parish use, making over $146,000 in unauthorized purchases including fine dining, clothing, travel, and computer products.

Cansler pleaded guilty to bank fraud, access device fraud, and aggravated identity theft.

In addition to his 57-month sentence, Cansler was sentenced to five years of supervised release and ordered him to pay over $171,000 in restitution.