Florida Megachurch Pastor Zachery Tims, Jr. was found dead in his upscale hotel room in New York City on Thursday, according to published reports.

Tims, 43, the pastor of an 8,000-member megachurch in Orlando, Fla., was found dead on the floor of a suite in the Times Square W Hotel, according to WSJ.

A maintenance worker entered the room and found Tims lying on his back between the living room and bedroom of the $400-a-night suite. He was unresponsive.

According to WSJ, police found an envelope in one of his pockets containing a powdery white substance. The substance is being tested for cocaine.

There were no signs of robbery or trauma to his body.

Tims’ death is a sad end to his inspirational rise from a drug addicted teenage criminal on the streets of Maryland. Tims loved to recount the story of how he was “miraculously saved” and aspired to be a man of God, leading his flock to prosperity and riches.

According to his memoir published in 2006, Tims put down the guns and drugs in favor of Christianity. He earned degrees in accounting and theology and worked at a ministry in Baltimore. In 1996, he and his wife Riva moved to Orlando, where they founded the New Destiny Christian Center.

At the ministry’s first service, six people gathered in a hotel room, according to the ministry’s website. In 1999, they purchased a church and later acquired more property, dubbing the 21-acre location “City of Destiny.”

In due time, Tims and his wife were living the champagne and caviar life of millionaires. Unlike other megachurch preachers who lined their own pockets with cash, the Tims lavished cars and other benefits on church members.

But it wasn’t long before Tims’ old demons came back to haunt him.

In 2009, after 15 years of marriage, he and his wife Riva divorced after he admitted to having an affair with a stripper.

Riva Tims went on to establish Majestic Life Ministries in Orlando. They shared custody of their four children, including a son born with Cerebral Palsy.

As news of his death spread on Friday, others in the megachurch community reached out with condolences, including Paula White, and T.D. Jakes, who tweeted: “DEEPLY saddened to hear of the passing of Pastor Tims @ztims …praying for his family and church.”

Image: Orlando Sentinel