Tony Alamo News

Tony & Susan Alamo Foundation Time Line

January 29, 1969 – Articles of Incorporation (official inception of the Tony and Susan Alamo Foundation)

1976 – The Labor Department brought charges against Alamo for violation of the Fair Labor Standard Act. Alamo lost his suit and lost in appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court in 1985.

April 8, 1982 – Susan Alamo dies in Tulsa, OK

1985 – IRS revoked the Alamo’s church (then incorporated as Music Square Church) tax-exempt status retroactively for the years 1977 to 1980

January 1988 – Tony Alamo ordered the brutal beating of 11 year old Justin M.

March 31, 1988 – Authorities of the state of California removed Justin, Kody, and Bobby Miller from the Saugus, CA compound and they were reunited with their fathers, Carey and Bob Miller. Child abuse charges are filed shortly afterward.

May 5, 1988 – CA felony child abuse charges dismissed for lack of evidence.

April 1989 – Tony Alamo is again charged with felony child abuse for ordering followers to beat 11 year old Justin Miller. Charges were reinstated after eye-witnesses came forward.

June 28, 1989 – a Federal warrant was issued charging Alamo with unlawful interstate flight to avoid prosecution for the crime of child abuse. Alamo denies any affiliation with Alamo Ministries.

1989-1991 – Tony Alamo was a fugitive in hiding from charges of felony child abuse stemming from the brutal beating of 11 yr old Justin Miller.

April 1990 – The United States District Court in Fort Smith, Arkansas, Judge Morris Arnold, presiding, ruled in a default judgment against Tony Alamo, who did not appear in court. Judge Arnold awarded $1,466,000 to Carey and Robert Miller and their families, all formerly associated with Alamo.

1990 – IRS filed liens for nearly 8 million dollars for Alamo church-business income taxes and employee withholding. Within the year the IRS seized Alamo’s businesses and communal properties all over the country.

Feb 13, 1991 – US Marshal Service agents took control of Alamo church properties in Alma and Georgia Ridge, AR

July 5, 1991 – Tony Alamo captured in Tampa, FL using fake ID and posing as Harvey Cochran. He was charged with threatening to kidnap a Federal judge, interstate flight, and felony child abuse.

March 1992 – Christhiaon Coie, Susan Alamo’s daughter, filed lawsuit accusing Alamo of stealing her mother’s dead body. Alamo initially denied hiding his wife’s body and then later told the press “I have it”.

1992 – After a protracted appeal process, the tax-exempt status of the existing Alamo organization was stripped for good in a Tax Court.

February 1993 – A Memphis grand jury indicted Alamo on charges of filing a false income tax return for 1985 and failing to file tax returns for 1986, 1987, and 1988.

February 1993 – Tony Alamo started taking multiple wives and brought a series of messages of scriptural arguments defending polygamy in an attempt to convince his congregation of its holiness. February wives were Lydia W. and Jody F. Soon to follow was Maria Isabel Mendoza. Tony Alamo took pregnant Misheal Jones Williams as a “wife” after kicking out her husband, Kenya W. Alamo also wrote a large pamphlet titled “The Polygamists”.

October 15, 1993 – Took Tami S. as a wife, after kicking her husband, Randy S. out. By year’s end Alamo had added Angela Morales [Streit] to his growing harem.

December 1993 – Tony’s son [Tabor] with Lydia W. and Misheal’s son (with
Kenya) were born. Jody F. (wife #3) was kicked out of the group for challenging Tony with scripture about his evil deeds.

January 1994 – Alamo took Elizabeth Mercado [Gutierrez] 16 years old, as his wife.

February 1994 – Alamo took Jeanne O. 15 years old, as his wife.

May 1994 – Alamo IRS tax trial begins. Alamo was tried, convicted, and sentenced to six years in federal prison for income tax evasion and for having failed to pay tax on personal income, disguised as tax-exempt income of his church, Alamo Christian Ministries.

At the trial, government witnesses, including “wife” Jody F., provided evidence of criminal sexual misconduct by Alamo. The prosecutor presented Arkansas state authorities with what he considered to be convincing evidence of sexual abuse by Alamo. During the trial several ex-wives testified that they were beaten and raped and Alamo plead the Fifth 10 times when questioned about his polygamist lifestyle, as well as bigamy. For some unknown reason the Arkansas state authorities did not act.

June 8, 1994 – Alamo convicted on all four tax charges and in September he was sentenced to six years in prison. He was held without bond due to bigamy and statutory rape claims.

November 1994 – Alamo was moved to Federal prison in Florence, CO. Alamo continued to run the day-to-day operations of his cult while still in prison, through phone calls, visits, and reports. He was also allowed to have visits by girls as young as nine, that were being groomed as his child brides. One eye witness account describes how the molestations occurred while Alamo was incarcerated.

March 1995 – California felony child abuse charges dropped due to the seven year delay in prosecuting and the fact that Alamo was currently serving a six-year sentence in Federal prison on IRS charges.

September 1995 – Alamo ordered to return wife’s stolen remains back to her daughter, Christhiaon Coie.

December 1995 – Alamo was moved to Federal prison in Texarkana, AR and here he was also able to run the day-to-day operations of his cult while still in prison, through phone calls, visits, and reports. He was also allowed to have visits by more young girls that were being groomed as his child brides.

December 8, 1998 – Alamo was released from prison and settled in Fouke, AR but not before he was ordered to return the body of Susan Alamo to Van Buren or face more jail time.

1999 – As soon as Tony Alamo was released from Texarkana Federal prison he started acquiring more underage girls into his harem of wives. These young girls were the children of his followers who allowed their little girls to move into Tony Alamo’s home often under the guise of having them attend school, to rehabilitate a wayward attitude, or telling the parents of these young girls that they would be taught to become secretaries; when actually they were being “groomed” to become “wives” often before they had reached puberty. This was ongoing for the next nine years until his arrest Sept 25, 2008. [Alamo refers to his home as the “mission school”.]

2000 – Former members started making complaints to DHS, Ark State Police, and the FBI about the physical abuse and sexual crimes occurring against children in the Tony Alamo Christian Ministries.

September 2005 – Former members come together on Factnet, an internet discussion group, to expose the abuses going on in the Alamo group.

February 2006 – City of Fouke presents a Certificate of Appreciation to Alamo and his ministry for their acts of “Christian love and kindness” in helping those in need.

April 2006 – Alamoministrieswatch.com, a watchdog site exposing the evils of Tony Alamo becomes available via the internet. Tony’s lawyers use intimidation and threats to have the site removed in July 2007.

August 2006 – Fouke Locals feel less kindly when Alamo posts armed guards along a city street where the Alamo compound was located. Around this time many citizens in Fouke, informed of Alamo’s crimes against children, organize a group known as P.A.C.A (Partnered Against Cult Activity) in an effort to inform the community and local authorities of the true nature of the group.

February 2007 – Tempur-Pedic International brings suit in Federal Court against several individuals including long-time Alamo member Tommy Scarcello for stealing 8000 mattresses that were donated to Hurricane Katrina Victims. Alamo wives Sharon Ast-Kroopf and Elizabeth Mercado, both are implicated because the mattresses were stored in a warehouse they owned.

October 2007 – tonyalamonews.com debuts as a new watchdog site exposing Alamo.

October 2007 – Alamo’s Assistant Pastor, Buster White, pleads innocent to federal charges of trafficking counterfeit merchandise.

October 2007 – Southern Poverty Law Center’s “The Intelligence Report” did an in-depth investigative article on Tony Alamo and his cult titled “The Ravening Wolf” by Susy Buchanan. Based on evidence compiled in this report the SPLC added Alamo Ministries to its list of hate groups.

May 2008 – NYC’s Village Voice did an investigative article on Alamo’s New York division titled “The Barely Legal Empire of Tony Alamo” by Maria Luisa Tucker.

September 2008 – Leslie Ray “Buster” White, Alamo Ministries’ co-pastor, entered a guilty plea to one count of trafficking in counterfeit music CDs before U.S. District Judge David Folsom in the Eastern District of Texas, Texarkana division and fined $210,000. He will be sentenced in 60 to 90 days.

September 20, 2008 – Federal and state authorities, prompted by allegations of child pornography, conduct a search at Tony Alamo Christian Ministries. Child welfare workers take custody of six girls, ages 10-17, who are believed to be in immediate danger.

September 25, 2008 – Tony Alamo arrested by FBI. The federal charging document accuses Alamo of taking a 13-year-old girl across state lines for sex in 2004 and of aiding and abetting her transport across state lines for sex in 2005.

October 22, 2008 – Alamo’s bail hearing. The judge ruled that Alamo must stay in jail until his Nov 19th trial because he was a danger to the community.

October 30, 2008 – Judge sets new trial date for Feb 2, 2009 after attorneys for Alamo said they needed more time to prepare. Prosecutors did not object to the request.

July 13, 2009 – Alamo trial begins in Texarkana, Arkansas.

July 24, 2009 – Alamo found guilty on all ten federal counts after two week trial.

October 23, 2009 – Fugitive John Kolbek is ordered to pay $3 million in restitution to two men he beat with a board as children at Alamo’s bidding. Alamo’s case concerning his role in the abuse is set for trial in January 2010.

November 13, 2009 – U.S. District Judge Harry Barnes sentences Alamo to 175 years in prison.

February 12, 2010 – Alamo transferred to Tucson, Arizona Federal Prison.

February, 2013 – Alamo is presently in United States Penitentiary (USP) in Marion, Illinois, a medium security facility.