10/05/10 – TG: Both sides request, get delay in civil suit against Alamo
Texarkana Gazette
October 5, 2010
By: Lynn LaRowe
Both sides request, get delay in civil suit against Alamo
A civil lawsuit seeking damages from Tony Alamo for two men who said they were beaten, starved and forced to labor unpaid as children in Alamo Christian Ministries has been put on hold.
The case was scheduled for trial Oct. 25. Last week U.S. Magistrate Judge Barry Bryant of the Western District of Arkansas, Texarkana Division, granted a joint motion for a continuance from attorneys for the plaintiffs and Alamo. Texarkana lawyer David Carter is representing Seth Calagna and Spencer Ondrisek. Alamo is being defended by Little Rock attorney John Wesley Hall Jr.
Last year, Ondrisek and Calagna were each awarded $1.5 million in a default judgment against John Kolbek. Kolbek and Alamo were initially named together as defendants. The case against Kolbek was severed from that of Alamo because Kolbek, a fugitive, never responded to the complaint after being served with notice in the Texarkana Gazette.
Kolbek is wanted by officials in Sebastian County, Ark., on battery charges involving Calagna as the alleged victim. Kolbek is wanted by federal authorities for unlawful flight from prosecution. Kolbek, who allegedly acted as Alamo’s enforcer, has been wanted since October 2008.