Evangelist sentenced to 175 years for sex crimes
By JON GAMBRELL, Associated Press Writer Jon Gambrell, Associated Press
Writer 14 mins ago

TEXARKANA, Ark. – Evangelist Tony Alamo used his stature as a
self-proclaimed prophet to force underage girls into sham marriages with
him, controlling his followers with their fears of eternal suffering.

But the judge who sentenced Alamo on Friday to 175 years in prison for
child sexual abuse warned of another kind of justice awaiting the aging
evangelist.

"Mr. Alamo, one day you will face a higher and a greater judge than me,"
U.S. District Judge Harry F. Barnes told the preacher. "May he have
mercy on your soul."

Barnes leveled the maximum sentence against the 75-year-old, who preyed
on followers' young daughters and took child "brides" as young as age 8.
A jury convicted Alamo in July on a 10-count indictment accusing him of
taking the girls across state lines for sex.

Alamo, who has made millions through his ministry, also must pay
$250,000 in fines. He will return to court for a Jan. 13 hearing at
which Barnes will determine if the five women who testified about their
sexual abuse will be paid restitution. Federal prosecutors say an expert
believes each one should get $2.7 million for the physical and mental
abuse they endured.

Barnes said Alamo used his influence as both a father figure and a
pastor to force himself upon impressionable girls who feared "the loss
of their salvation."

"You are described by others who testified as a prophet of God, a person
of trust, a person of supreme authority in the church," Barnes said,
staring the pale preacher. "It's hard to imagine the scenario and the
damage that occurred to these five young girls."

Alamo, who had muttered and cursed through his two-week trial, stood
silently during the sentencing, dressed in a yellow prison uniform and a
blue windbreaker. Before Barnes' ruling, Alamo told the judge: "I lean
on the lord Jesus Christ."

"I'm glad I'm me and not the deceived people in the world," the
evangelist said.

Alamo's defense team, which had asked for leniency due to the preacher's
age and poor health, promised to appeal Barnes' ruling.

FBI agents and Arkansas State Police troopers raided Alamo's compound in
nearby Fouke in September 2008. The FBI arrested Alamo five days later
in Flagstaff, Ariz., charging him with violating the Mann Act, a
century-old morality law originally aimed at stopping women from being
sold into prostitution.

Five women, age 17 to 33, testified in July that Alamo "married" them in
private ceremonies while they were minors, sometimes giving them rings.
Each detailed trips beyond Arkansas' borders for Alamo's sexual
gratification.

With little physical evidence, prosecutors relied on the women's stories
to paint an emotional portrait of a charismatic religious leader who
controlled every aspect of his subjects' lives. The women said Alamo
ordered beatings or punitive fasts for minor infractions or at the whim
of his paranoia.

Defense lawyers said the government targeted Alamo because it
disapproves of his apocalyptic brand of Christianity. Alamo never
testified at trial, but spoke to Barnes twice during the hearing Friday.
He first told the judge he thought his defense team provided him
adequate legal help, though he wanted them to harshly cross-examine the
women to show "that the people who were testifying against me were lying."

My lawyers "did prove that I never took girls out of state to have sex
with them," Alamo said.

Three of the five victims spoke in court Friday about how Alamo stole
their childhoods and tore apart their families to satisfy his sexual
perversions. One woman Alamo took as a child "bride" at age 8 described
how she shook uncontrollably when he first molested her.

"You have the audacity to ask for mercy," the woman said, looking up
from her handwritten notes to stare at Alamo. "What mercy did you show us?"

The evangelist's lawyers pleaded for a lower sentence because of his age
and infirmities. They called as witnesses two followers and a doctor,
who discussed how Alamo suffered from hypertension, diabetes, obesity
and glaucoma. However, Dr. Samuel Berkman acknowledged under
cross-examination that he examined Alamo only once in 2004, as the
preacher sought an eye lift to look younger.

"There's no question he's done a lot of good," said Don Ervin, a Houston
lawyer who led Alamo's defense, outlining the church's efforts to reach
the poor. "He's an unusual man and an unusually great man."

Assistant U.S. Attorney Kyra Jenner said after the hearing that
prosecutors would work with the federal prison system to ensure Alamo
can't control his ministry and its many businesses from behind bars. At
trial, one of the victims described how Alamo "married" and groped her
during a prison visit.

How long Alamo remains an influence depends on whether police or former
followers dismantle the ministry through lawsuits and criminal cases.
The FBI declined to say Friday whether it had ongoing investigations
involving the ministry.

As Alamo left the courthouse, he said he would leave to his church's
future in other hands.

"The Lord is in charge," the preacher said.
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