A federal judge has rejected a request by a former pastor of a northwestern Indiana megachurch that his 12-year prison sentence for having sex with a teenager be reduced. The Post-Tribune of Merrillville reports U.S. District Judge Rudy Lozano on Tuesday also denied Jack Schaap's request for a hearing on his motions and denied him a certificate to appeal to the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. Schaap was pastor of the 15,000-member First Baptist Church of Hammond for 11 years when he was fired in 2012. He pleaded guilty to bringing the girl to Illinois and Michigan for sex. The sentence was two years more than the 10-year sentence that federal attorneys agreed to recommend in a plea deal.
