Cult Leader Alamo to Face Charges of Threatening Judge : Courts: Suspect to be moved to Arkansas. He later must answer to an allegation that he directed severe beating of a child at now-defunct commune in Saugus.

Religious cult leader Tony Alamo, appearing in a courtroom packed with longtime followers, was ordered Friday to be moved to Arkansas to face charges that he threatened to kidnap and hang a federal judge.

Alamo, who also faces a child-abuse charge stemming from an alleged beating at his church’s now-defunct commune in Saugus, was described by federal authorities during the hearing as a dangerous manipulator of his followers--”Christian soldiers” who would do his bidding and protect him with weapons if needed.

But several of his followers testified that Alamo was a harmless preacher of the Bible who saved them from lives of drug abuse, crime and despair when he took them off the streets of Hollywood and gave them food, clothing and the word of the Lord.

Alamo, 56, was arrested in Tampa July 5 by U.S. marshals and local police. He had been a fugitive since October, 1988, after evading the child abuse charges.

After hearing testimony from several followers, U.S. Magistrate Thomas Wilson was unswayed and ruled that Alamo was a flight risk and denied him bail.

“He was on the run,” Wilson said. “The evidence has convinced me that he is a risk to flee.”

Alamo will be taken to Arkansas next week to face a charge that he told a Ft. Smith, Ark., newspaper editor that a federal judge was a Nazi who should be hanged for ruling against Alamo in a lawsuit. Alamo was ordered to pay $1.8 million to a follower who claimed in a civil suit that the preacher had beaten his children and alienated him from his family when they lived in a church commune in Arkansas.

Because Alamo was arrested under a federal warrant, he will face the Arkansas charge before being returned to California to face the child abuse charge. That case involved an 11-year-old boy--the son of a commune member--who was allegedly struck more than 100 times with a wooden paddle at the Saugus commune. Alamo allegedly directed the beating from another location via a speaker phone.

A charismatic preacher and designer of denim jackets made and sold by church members, Alamo appeared subdued in court and did not testify or communicate with his followers, who filled four rows of seats. Alamo lived on the Saugus commune with 500 followers before fleeing.

Despite his fugitive status, Alamo continued to market and promote his lucrative denim-jacket business. The sequined jackets were sold for up to $1,400 apiece to Hollywood celebrities.

In a 1989 interview with The Times, Alamo said he personally designed the jackets, faxing drawings to his employees from his hide-outs.

Federal agents said Alamo, who wore an unkempt beard and thick glasses during Friday’s hearing, is nearly blind from glaucoma. They said he was apparently chauffeured by followers and family members during the time he was a fugitive.

Alamo was arrested after federal agents followed a member of his Holy Alamo Christian Church to Alamo’s home in an upscale Tampa neighborhood.

Investigators said the house had been rented by Alamo two months ago, though they believe he had been living off and on in the area for as long as two years. They said he was involved in operating a local hardware store and restaurant.

During the court hearing, two widely differing views of Alamo emerged.

FBI Agent Donald Giesler said Alamo used at least three aliases in the Tampa area, and dozens of followers had moved to the area to work in his businesses and serve him. He said informants--primarily former followers of Alamo--told investigators that the group always had ready access to guns.

“He has a group of hundreds of followers and they will protect him in a minute,” Giesler said. “They think he is a true representative of God. They work for him, turn over the majority of their profits to him and do his bidding.”

Giesler said Alamo had boasted in media interviews and on radio shows and sermons of having an army of “Christian soldiers.” Disaffected followers have reported that Alamo has persuaded loyal followers to store “caches of weapons and be prepared to die.”

Asst. U.S. Atty. David Jennings said Alamo would be a danger to society if granted bail.

“He is not dangerous because he carries a knife or an Uzi,” Jennings said. “He is dangerous because he commands people to do whatever he wants done.”

The government’s claims repeatedly brought whispered denunciations from Alamo’s followers in the courtroom.

Nearly a dozen followers testified and denied that the group had weapons or was involved in violence.

Albert Krantz, 40, an artist who helps design Alamo’s denim jackets, said Alamo is innocent of the charges against him and the victim of bad press and a vendetta by the government.

“It is completely and utterly ridiculous,” he said of claims that Alamo is dangerous.

Another of Alamo’s followers, Tommy Scarcella, said that 20 years ago he was a drug-abusing rock musician in Hollywood when he was saved by Alamo.

“It was because Mr. Alamo and his wife were on the street preaching the Gospel that I found Christ,” Scarcella said. “All he did is good. That’s all I ever saw him do.”

“I was in a rock group. I used to light myself on fire. I would take drugs. I would do a lot of crazy things in the entertainment industry.”

Scarcella said he now works as a traveling salesman selling the jackets designed by his pastor.