Friday, September 26, 2008 - Page updated at 05:50 PM
E-mail article
Print view Share:
Digg
Newsvine
Evangelist Tony Alamo agrees to return to Arkansas
Evangelist and convicted tax evader Tony Alamo waived his right to fight extradition to Arkansas after his arrest on charges that he took minors across state lines for sexual purposes.
Associated Press Writer
Evangelist and convicted tax evader Tony Alamo waived his right to fight extradition to Arkansas after his arrest on charges that he took minors across state lines for sexual purposes.
Alamo appeared briefly Friday in U.S. District Court in Flagstaff. It will be at least a week before he is moved to Arkansas, said Debbie Groom, a spokeswoman for the U.S. attorney's office there.
The one-time rock promoter and street preacher was arrested by the FBI while leaving a Flagstaff hotel Thursday on charges of violating the Mann Act, usually used in interstate prostitution cases.
Federal prosecutors sought Alamo's arrest after interviewing six girls taken into state custody during a raid of his southwestern Arkansas compound Saturday.
An Arkansas judge ruled Friday there was probable cause to keep two of those six girls in foster homes, according to Julie Munsell, a spokeswoman for the state Department of Human Services. Custody hearings for the other four girls are scheduled for Monday.
Alamo told U.S. Magistrate Judge Mark E. Aspey he had legally changed his name to Tony Alamo from his birth name, Bernie Lazar Hoffman. He also said he was legally blind.
Court documents in the case were sealed.
Alamo was represented by a federal public defender but said he planned to hire his own attorney. The defense lawyer was then released from the case. He declined to comment.
Alamo has said that the age of consent is puberty and that there's a mandate in the Bible for girls marrying young.
"In the Bible it happened. But girls today, I don't marry them if they want to at 14-15 years old," Alamo told The Associated Press after the raid. "We won't do it, even though I believe it's OK."
Federal agents and Arkansas state police who raided the headquarters of Tony Alamo Christian Ministries in the town of Fouke removed six girls ages 10 to 17. They said they were seeking evidence that children there had been molested or filmed having sex.
Alamo and his wife Susan formed a commune near Saugus, Calif., in the 1960s after preaching in Los Angeles. Susan Alamo died of cancer in 1982, and Alamo claimed she would be resurrected, keeping her body on display for months.
![]()
Alamo was convicted of tax-related charges in 1994 and served four years in prison after the IRS said he owed the government $7.9 million.
---
Associated Press writer Jon Gambrell in Little Rock, Ark. contributed to this report.
Copyright © 2008 The Seattle Times Company
Climate change speeds up since 1997 Kyoto accord
Children in home day care watching hours of TV, study says
Senate Democrats split on health bill's fate
U.K. started planning early for war, leaked papers show
Vaccine to kill nicotine buzz now in late tests by small drug firm

Real Salt Lake wins MLS Cup
Real Salt Lake defeated the Los Angeles Galaxy with penalty kicks after 120 minutes of play at Qwest Field in Seattle.
nwjobs

Post a comment

Michelle Goodman blogs about work/life balance.
How to tell your office you're gravely ill
Post a comment
nwautos

Choosing a new sedan? Weigh the impact of your choice on your wallet and on the planet.
Post a comment
- 'The Road' takes Viggo Mortensen to Mount St. Helens and Astoria, Ore.
- Tugboat sinks at Seattle waterfront pier
- Child-support error costs nearly $21,000
- Vikings easily beat the Seahawks
- Craigslist adoption ad: A plea by young mother-to-be? A scam?
- Chase shrugs off loss of CD investors
- Illegal workers quietly let go
- Denny Triangle gains skyline, but tenants slow to come
- Snow piles up on Cascade slopes
- Woman stabbed by stranger in North Seattle
- Sprouts, raw fish on attorney's 'do not eat' list
- 'The Road' takes Viggo Mortensen to Mount St. Helens and Astoria, Ore.
- Child-support error costs nearly $21,000
- It's possible to recover a life lost to hoarding
- Washington state wines make annual best-of list
- Rediscovering Moab, 'the most beautiful place on Earth'
- Banff: powder, peaks & purity
- Chase shrugs off loss of CD investors
- Food-safety lawyer's wish: Put me out of business
- Denny Triangle gains skyline, but tenants slow to come





