Evangelist Tony Alamo, who is serving a 175-year sentence in federal prison for taking young girls across state lines for sex, faces a civil trial starting Tuesday that he ordered the beating of two of his former ministry members.
In a federal lawsuit filed in 2008 by W. David Carter of Texarkana, Tex., the two young men — Seth Calagna and Spencer Ondirsek — allege that Alamo ordered another man, John Kolbek, to beat them.
Calagna and Ondirsek each were awarded $1.5 million from Kolbek after he failed to respond to their lawsuit. Kolbek died in January.
They’re now seeking damages in the case against Alamo, who is not likely to appear in court in Texarkana, Ark. because it would cost too much to bring him from federal prison in Terre Haute, Ind. […]
The suit seeks damages in excess of $75,000 because the young men “have sustained damages in the form of physical pain and suffering, emotional distress and scarring/disfigurement,” Carter wrote in the complaint.