Brothers Given Up to 18 Years in PTL Scandal
David Taggart was sentenced Friday to 18 years and five months in prison and James Taggart to 17 years and six months for convictions on tax fraud charges in the PTL scandal.
U.S. District Judge Robert Potter also ordered each to pay a fine of $500,000.
The brothers, convicted last month of failing to pay taxes on $1.1 million that they allegedly embezzled from the television ministry, had faced up to 25 years in prison.
Meanwhile, a three-judge panel rejected an emergency appeal from television evangelist Jim Bakker based on a women’s room conversation that Jessica Hahn allegedly had with grand jury members.
Hahn, whose sexual tryst with Bakker led to the unraveling of his religious empire, had told a radio show that grand jury members approached her, asking about autographs and how she was holding up. Bakker’s attorneys moved to have the indictment quashed on grounds of jury tampering.
In testimony at Bakker’s trial Friday, a minister said he felt “robbed and cheated” after buying lifetime partnerships for lodging in a hotel that was never built.
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