Evangelist Alamo found guilty

[backtoblue]

Source: msnbc.com
updated 8 minutes ago
TEXARKANA, Ark. - A federal jury on Friday convicted evangelist Tony Alamo on charges he took underage girls across state lines for sex.

The jury issued its judgement in federal court in Texarkana. The jury found the 74-year-old Alamo guilty of all counts he faced.

Alamo faced a 10-count indictment accusing him of taking girls as young as 9 across state lines as early as 1994.

FBI agents and Arkansas State Police troopers raided Alamo's compound in southern Arkansas in September looking for child pornography. Agents arrested him five days later in Arizona.

Mann Act at issue
Alamo had denied the charges, claiming they came from a Vatican-led conspiracy against his ministry. His apocalyptic tracts outline his hatred of the Vatican and his feared "one-world government." The Southern Poverty Law Center considers his ministry a "cult."

He was charged with violating the Mann Act, a nearly century-old morality law. Each count carries a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

In closing arguments Wednesday, Assistant U.S. Attorney Kyra Jenner described Alamo as a manipulator who dictated everything from what his followers believed to what they could eat. At one point, she turned to stare directly at him.

"Your crimes have been exposed in this courtroom," Jenner said. Alamo sneered and waved her away.

Fell asleep during trial
Alamo fell asleep several times during Jenner's closing argument. At one point, his mouth hung wide open as his head rolled back in his chair. A member of his legal team woke him by throwing a pen onto the defense table. When he was awake, Alamo muttered "bull----" at times during Jenner's remarks.


Defense lawyer Phillip Kuhn told jurors not to be swayed by testimony unrelated to the indictment — that Alamo may have had multiple wives, or that he may have set up businesses to evade taxes. He said prosecutors deliberately strayed from the specific charges against Alamo.

"Was it to give Tony a fair trial or was it to turn the jury into a moral mob?" Kuhn asked.

Defense lawyers say prosecutors targeted him because the government is anti-Christian. Alamo has also said the Vatican is behind his troubles.

Defense attorneys largely stayed away from challenging the accusers' testimony about sex with the evangelist. Alamo's lawyers rested their case Wednesday after persuading the flamboyant minister not to testify. Though he had told reporters he would take the stand, Alamo said Wednesday afternoon he chose not to testify in an "unjust court".

[Solly Mack]

1. Good

[backtoblue]

2. He's a nasty, nasty man who needs to spend the rest of his life in prison.

I hope the girls can get over what he did to them.

[Solly Mack]

5. He truly is just that.

[Frank Cannon]

8. As I recall, he once dug up his wife's corpse to try to "resurrect" her

I thought the guy was put away a long, long time ago.

[redqueen]

3. Good.

Now he should rot in prison.

[sinkingfeeling]

4. Good. He's been really strange on the news.

[backtoblue]

6. Yep, he's definitely a bizarre and wacko scumbag.

:hi:

[AuntPatsy]

7. sadly many others never get caught.

[Union Yes]

9. This can't be. A right winger committing sin? They're too pure.

:sarcasm:

[Canuckistanian]

10. He actually used "Vatican conspiracy" in his defense arguments?

Gee, I wonder why the jury found him guilty?