11/15/09 – Crime Beat: Tony Alamo to Jail – 175 Years
The National Ledger
November 15, 2009
By Jess Snow
Crime Beat: Tony Alamo to Jail – 175 Years
According to CNN Tony Alamo (Bernie Hoffman) called the allegations against him a hoax, but the 75-year-old leader of the Tony Alamo Christian Ministries will spend the rest of his life behind bars unless he wins on appeal. An Arkansas judge sentenced him to 175 years Friday on charges that included taking minors across state lines for sex, according to prosecutors.
“Mr. Alamo, one day you will face a higher, a greater judge than me,” Judge Harry F. Barnes of Federal District Court said. “May he have mercy on your soul.”
The testimony from one woman identified as a girl he took as a “child bride” at eight years old challenged him from the witness stand. “You preyed on innocent children,” she said, staring down Mr. Alamo, who wore yellow prison scrubs and a windbreaker for the hearing, according to the AP.
“You have the audacity to ask for mercy,” she said. “What mercy did you show us?
According to the New York Times, the evangelist offered a brief statement to the court praising God, then adding, “I’m glad I’m me and not the deceived people in the world.”
Mr. Alamo’s lawyers said they planned to appeal the sentence, the paper added in its report.