Cult leader Tony Alamo should get a new trial because sex with minors was “incidental” to his purpose for traveling across state lines, his lawyer argues in Alamo’s most recent appellate brief.

The lawyer’s brief also argues Alamo deserves to be resentenced by a different judge because of statements U.S. District Judge Harry Barnes made after imposing a 175-year term.

Tony Alamo’s conviction by a jury was based on sound evidence and his sentence by a judge on federal law, a brief filed Monday by the government states.

U.S. Attorney Kyra Jenner the jury found the five Jane Does listed in Alamo’s indictment credible witnesses and outlines how each victim was made to travel with Alamo so that his sexual relationship with them could continue.

Ex-followers say that by the late 1990s Tony Alamo was living in this sprawling compound with more than a dozen women, some of whom he called his “spiritual wives.”

Though no legal documents were ever signed, Jeanne, Amy and Desiree say they were three of Alamo’s “wives.” But when they said their vows, they hardly qualified as women — they were still girls.

A judge has granted mattress factory Tempur-Pedic International Inc. permission to inspect 3,500 mattresses at a warehouse owned by members of the Tony Alamo Christian Ministries -- a cult of Christianity whose leader was recently sentenced to 175 in prison.

Among other things, the rulings said the children faced danger of beatings and forced fasts ordered by 75-year-old evangelist Tony Alamo convicted earlier this year of transporting underage girls across state lines for sex and sentenced this month to 175 years in prison.

In one of the appeals court rulings today, Judge Robert J. Gladwin wrote that the evidence “presented a clear picture of the danger to children in the ministry compound at Fouke.”

Evangelist Tony Alamo was sentenced Friday to 175 years in prison for taking little girls as young as 9 across state lines to have sex with them.

The decision punishes him for the rest of his life for molesting children he took as “brides” in his ministry.

Alamo, 75, had denied the charges, claiming they came from a Vatican-led conspiracy against the church he led, called the Tony Alamo Christian Ministries.

The alleged enforcer of evangelist Tony Alamo must pay $3 million in restitution to two boys he’s believed to have beaten bloody on the preacher’s behalf and left haunted for life, a federal judge ruled Thursday.

The teens have also sued Alamo.

TEXARKANA, Ark. (AP) – A federal judge has delayed a sentencing hearing for evangelist Tony Alamo, who was convicted on charges of taking young girls across state lines for sex, AP reports.

U.S. District Judge Harry Barnes changed the date Tuesday from Oct. 26 to Nov. 13.

According to the Texarkana Gazette, if sentenced to the maximum on each count and if ordered to serve the terms consecutively, Alamo could receive 175 years in a federal prison.

When Tony Alamo was arrested last year, his enforcer — John Erwin Kolbeck — fled and hasn’t been seen since.

The television show America’s Most Wanted is in Fort Smith, Arkansas to take the story to a national level in hopes of finding him. [video]

The constitutionally guaranteed right to religious freedom didn’t give Tony Alamo the right to order beatings, force fasts and falsely imprison, according to a federal judge’s ruling Wednesday in a lawsuit filed by two men who claim to have been beaten as children at Alamo’s bidding.

“The principle of religious liberty does not give one the liberty to physically attack others; when a threat to society’s or another individual’s safety appears, the power of the state to prevent or punish is obvious,” said a decision from U.S. District Judge Harry Barnes.

State child-welfare officials say a baby born to followers of convicted evangelist Tony Alamo is at substantial risk of injury.

An affidavit filed last week in Miller County Circuit Court by a caseworker with the state Department of Human Services said the 3-month-old boy is in danger of abuse.

The affidavit also says a judge in January ruled that the Alamo ministry was an unfit environment for the boy’s four siblings.

Two members of the Tony Alamo Christian Ministries were released from jail Monday after spending more than seven months behind bars for refusing to reveal the whereabouts of their children.

Many children of Alamo followers have been taking into protective custody.

Tony Alamo, a one-time street preacher who became an outfitter of the stars and fought the federal government over claims he underpaid followers for church work, was convicted Friday of taking five girls across state lines for sex.

Alamo has blamed the Vatican for his legal troubles, which include a four-year prison term for tax evasion in the 1990s.

Cult leader Tony Alamo is accused of taking five young girls across state lines for sex between 1994 and 1995 after “marrying” them.

The jury began deliberating early Thursday at Texarkana federal courthouse, a day after listening to prosecutors and defense attorneys offer their final portrayals of Alamo.

Prosecutors wrapped up their case Tuesday after playing recordings of phone conversations Alamo had from jail.

In one, Alamo tells a girl she has to clean up a mess she made or leave his compound. In another, women and girls giggle as he discusses how the charges against him might differ had his alleged crimes occurred in Texas or Arkansas.

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