7/10/2013 – TG: Judge reschedules hearing on Alamo properties
Texarkana Gazette
July 10, 2013
By: Lynn LaRowe
Judge reschedules hearing on Alamo properties
A federal judge has rescheduled a hearing to address ownership of properties associated with imprisoned evangelist Tony Alamo to September.
Earlier this month, U.S. Magistrate Judge Barry Bryant granted a motion for a continuance filed by Patrick Kilgore, a Clayton, Mo., attorney representing a large group of Alamo Ministries members. Kilgore’s motion cites a scheduling conflict.
The Sept. 6 hearing is meant to address ownership claims concerning six properties Bryant has ruled can be sold to partially satisfy a $30 million judgment Alamo owes to Spencer Ondrisek and Seth Calagna, two men who sued the imprisoned evangelist for abuses they suffered as children raised in the ministry.
Alamo is serving a 175-year federal prison sentence for bringing five women he wed as children across state lines for sex.
Bryant ruled that the properties, although placed in the names of Alamo followers, are actually bought and controlled by Alamo for his benefit.
Many of the members have filed documents claiming the properties actually belong to Alamo Ministries, which Alamo loyalists describe as an unincorporated nonprofit organization, or alternatively, to the members collectively.
Texarkana lawyer David Carter said in a previous interview he does not believe Alamo Ministries should qualify as a nonprofit.
The properties at issue include the church building, a gym building, a warehouse, a restaurant parking lot, a restaurant and a residential house in Fort Smith, Ark.