Evangelist’s Tax Conviction Clears Way for L.A. Case

Evangelist Tony Alamo, whose religious empire included country and Western clothing boutiques, was convicted Wednesday in Memphis, Tenn., on federal tax charges.

The verdict clears the way for Alamo to be returned to Los Angeles to stand trial on charges that he ordered the beating of a young boy at his Saugus commune in 1988. A hearing in that case has been scheduled for today in Los Angeles Superior Court.

Alamo built his church from a small street ministry begun in California more than 20 years ago. Known for his diatribes against the Pope and the news media, Alamo also had churches and followers in Arkansas and Tennessee.

A federal court jury convicted him Wednesday of falsifying his federal income tax return for 1985 and failing to file returns from 1986 to 1988.

Jurors deliberated 90 minutes on Monday and all day Tuesday and Wednesday before convicting Alamo on all counts.

Government prosecutors said Alamo used the tax-exempt Tony and Susan Alamo Christian Foundation and, later, the Music Square Church, to avoid paying taxes.

The case wasn’t about religion and Alamo can’t find defense for his tax problems in the Bible, said Justice Department lawyer Christopher Belcher.

He noted in closing arguments that Christ was born when Joseph and Mary returned to Bethlehem to pay their taxes.

“All Tony Alamo had to do was go to the mailbox and drop a return in the mail,” he said.

Alamo’s attorney, Jeffrey Dickstein, blamed Alamo’s legal troubles on his ex-wives, overbearing government agencies and former church members, many of them former drug addicts.

He said Alamo’s businesses operated at a loss and Alamo had no income himself.

In the Los Angeles case, Alamo is accused of directing four men via telephone from another location to punish the boy with 140 strokes of a large paddle. Alamo, who turned down a plea bargain offer that would have spared him from jail if he agreed to plead guilty to a misdemeanor child abuse charge, has denied any wrongdoing. He could face a possible six-year sentence.