Mark Driscoll Racketeering Charges Dropped

Mark Driscoll
Mark Driscoll

A racketeering lawsuit that was filed against former Mars Hill Church pastor Mark Driscoll, as well as church leader Sutton Turner, has been dropped. The Seattle Times reports that four former members of Mars Hill filed the lawsuit, accusing Driscoll and Turner of misusing thousands and possibly millions of dollars in church funds.

However, the plaintiffs did not raise enough money for the legal fees they were incurring, and were thus forced to drop the suit. Although U.S. District Court Judge James Robart dismissed the case, he refused the defendants’ request for sanction, thus leaving the door open for a possible future lawsuit.

Brian Jacobsen, one of the plaintiffs, said that they had hoped publicity from the case would bring in sufficient funds for a legal battle, but although some donations came in, there were not enough. Jacobsen says they hope to re-file the lawsuit in the future, however. Driscoll, meanwhile, has moved from Seattle to Arizona where he has started a church plant outside of Phoenix in Scottsdale.

Driscoll could not be reached for comment. Turner, however, asserted that “It’s time to move on.” He went on to call the conflict at Mars Hill “the most difficult thing I’ve ever gone through.”

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