NATION : Jury Seated in PTL Perjury Case

Attorneys seated a jury dominated by churchgoers today to hear federal charges against PTL pastor Sam Johnson, who is accused of lying to the grand jury that indicted ministry founder Jim Bakker in 1988.

The government asserts that Johnson perjured himself when he told the grand jury that he could not remember where he got $10,000 that served as the initial “hush money” payment to Jessica Hahn, whose sexual encounter with Bakker led to the evangelist’s fall from grace.

Assistant U.S. Atty. Max Cogburn said: “He did remember the promise to get the money, and he did remember where he got the money. We expect the evidence to show Sam Johnson had in his possession thousands and thousands of dollars entrusted to him from mission work and that he used that money.”

If convicted, Johnson will be the fifth person to go to prison in the PTL television ministry scandal. He could be sentenced to 60 years in prison.

The jury was seated in 90 minutes. All but one of the jurors said they attend church, but most had no prior knowledge of Johnson. None had ever donated to a television ministry.