Tony Alamo News

1/28/10 – TG: Convicted sex abuser, Tony Alamo, on his way to federal prison *** COMMENTS

Texarkana Gazette
January 28, 2010
By: Lynn LaRowe

Alamo leaves town
Convicted sex abuser on his way to federal prison

Convicted child sex abuser Tony Alamo is at the Oklahoma City Federal Transfer Center, according to the Federal Bureau of Prisons Website.

Typically, federal prisoners are first taken to a staging center in Oklahoma before being moved to the unit where they will be housed.

Alamo left Texarkana on Tuesday.

At sentencing, Alamo’s defense team asked that the court recommend placement in a medical unit because of his age and health problems.

Alamo, whose given name is Bernie LaZar Hoffman, was convicted by an Arkansas jury in July of all 10 counts listed in a federal indictment accusing him of bringing five young girls he’d wed as children across state lines for sex.

In November, Alamo was sentenced to 175 years in federal prison.

He remained in a downtown Texarkana jail because of a Jan. 13 hearing scheduled to address restitution the government sought for his victims.

U.S. District Judge Harry Barnes ordered Alamo to pay each of the five Jane Does $500,000 for their suffering. However, Barnes agreed to hold off payment while Alamo appealed his case.

“I am innocent! I will prove it in the Eighth Circuit. The girls lied,” states a recent post on Alamo’s Website.

Last week the government filed a motion asking that Alamo, 75, be compelled to remit now or at least place the money in the court’s registry because of fears he and his followers will take steps to “dissipate” assets.

In addition to the $2.5 million in restitution, Alamo also owes a $250,000 fine and $850 in court costs.