10/09/09 – TG: Alamo to answer questions on alleged battery, conspiracy
Texarkana Gazette
October 9, 2009
By: Lynn LaRowe
Alamo to answer questions on alleged battery, conspiracy
Tony Alamo will have to answer questions during the pretrial proceedings in a civil lawsuit filed by two men who claim they were beaten at his direction as children.
In a conference report filed Wednesday by the lawyers from both sides, is a notation indicating that Alamo and the two men accusing him of battery, false imprisonment, conspiracy and outrage will submit to depositions.
Once complete, the questions and answers provided could be made part of the court’s public record.
Spencer Ondrisek and Seth Calagna filed the suit last November asking they be compensated for their pain and suffering. Barnes has scheduled the case against Alamo for trial in July 2010.
The suit originally named Alamo, 75, and his alleged enforcer, John Kolbek, 50, as defendants.
Kolbek’s case has been severed from Alamo’s because of his status as a fugitive. Kolbek, wanted by federal officials for unlawful flight from prosecution, was initially sought by state authorities in Fort Smith, Ark., for battery in connection with a beating Calagna allegedly suffered.
Carter served Kolbek with notice of the suit in a local newspaper but he has remained mum.
U.S. District Judge Harry Barnes ruled Kolbek’s silence amounts to an admission that the allegations in the complaint are true. Barnes is expected to hear from Carter regarding an appropriate judgment later this month.
Once approved by Barnes, any property owned by Kolbek can be liquidated to satisfy the judgment and compensate the men.
According to court documents and testimony from Ondrisek at other hearings, the men were beaten by Kolbek at Alamo’s insistence with a six foot long, inches thick, wooden paddle until they bled.
Forced fasts, verbal abuse and other inhumane treatments are alleged as well.