Evangelist Is Given 6-Year Prison Term

The evangelist Tony Alamo, whose church once ran businesses worth millions of dollars, has drawn a maximum sentence of six years in prison on an income tax conviction.

Mr. Alamo, 59, was convicted in June in Federal District Court here for understating his income in 1985 and failing to file tax returns from 1986 through 1988. He was sentenced on Friday by Judge Jon McCalla, who also levied a fine of $210,000.

Mr. Alamo formed a ministry for drug abusers and the homeless more than 20 years ago that eventually grew into a multimillion-dollar enterprise with a string of businesses, primarily in Arkansas, Tennessee and California.

The prosecutor, Christopher Belcher, said the businesses had earned more than $9 million over four years.

He lived lavishly while many of his followers worked for church businesses for subsistence wages or no pay at all, Mr. Belcher said.

Mr. Alamo said the businesses, which included an Arkansas hog farm and a clothing store in Nashville, supplied money he needed to spread the Gospel and feed and clothe his followers.

Read Another Article

Cult Leader’s Return to L.A. for Trial Delayed
48 Die in Cult Murder-Suicide

Related News Articles Topic(s): Alamo Christian Ministries • Tony Alamo Subscribe to Religion News Blog updates Subscribe to Religion News Blog [What is this?] Get Religion News Blog's headline by Email [What is this?] Follow Religion News Blog at Twitter Find Related Information Use our custom search engines to find additional research resources on religions and cults: ApologeticsSearch.com: Search for apologetics articles, books, videos, and other research resources across 135 Christian apologetics websites and blogs. CounterCultSearch.com: Search for information about (religious) cults, cult-like organizations, and cults experts -- as well as paranormal-, New Age, and pseudoscientific claims -- across 260+ websites, blogs and forums dedicated to cult research, spiritual abuse, ex-cult counseling & support. Find Related Religion & Spirituality Books at Amazon.com Alamo Christian Ministries Possibly related... or Most Popular Religion News Articles Kent Hovind: Evangelist arrested on federal charges Beast’s real mark devalued to ’616′ Muslim Woman Gives Sex Advice on Arab TV Michael Jackson Confirms Conversion to Islam Kent Hovind, ‘Dr. Dino,’ guilty on all counts The fall and rise of Carlton Pearson Search False prophet Harold Camping sets another date for rapture: May 21, 2011 Watch the film Theo van Gogh was murdered for Kent Hovind — Dr. Dino — sentenced to 10 years in prison

Search Religion News Blog