Acting upon reports of child abuse, on March 25, 1988, sheriffs deputies raided the Saugus, California, compound in order to reunite three boys with their natural fathers; the fathers had been members of the Arkansas compound but had been excommunicated. In 1984, Tony Alamo married what was either his fourth or sixth wife, as there have been claims he was married four times before he wed Susan. Magazines, Or create a free account to access more articles, Christian Cult Leader and Child Sex Abuser Tony Alamo Dies in Federal Custody. History: In 1993 Angela Marie Morales (aka Angel Streit) became a wife in Arkansas at age 20. Alamos Pentecostal theology includeed a virulent paranoia and extreme anti-Catholicism that placed the Vatican as the real power broker behind the White House, the United Nations, and the media. Alamo, 74, faces up to 175 years in prison, plus fines that could total $2.5 million. He can be very charming.. Sharon Ast-Kroopf-Hoffman Legal wife of Tony Alamo. Alamo died in federal custody in North Carolina on May 2, 2017. 72201. 1416, 18. In the 1980s, Alamo, a self-proclaimed prophet of God, had thousands of devoted followers in the United States, including the parents of Jeanne, Amy, Desiree and Nikki. Sign up to receive breakingFront Page Detectivesnews and exclusive investigations. Anti-Catholic, pro-polygamy evangelist convicted in 2009 on 10 counts of transporting underage girls across state lines for sex. Troubles continue to mount for Tony Alamo Christian Foundation. Their ministry was part of the Jesus People movement, in which many of those involved in the counterculture of the 1960s began proclaiming a spiritual transformation and an allegiance to Jesus. Nine years his senior, Edith Horn, a two-time divorce who already had a daughter, had moved to Hollywood to become an actress but ended up supporting herself partly by scamming churches into believing her to be a missionary in need of money. Pebbles agrees: I dont think it will ever be easy. Her estranged daughter, Christhiaon Coie, brought a suit against Tony for stealing the body, and her stepfather obtained a court order requiring the body to be returned.[14]. Pebbles Rodriguez claims Alamo married her in 1999 when she was 12. She said an address on his posters the urge music fans to send in the votes for entertainer of the year is Alamos post office box in Los Angeles. But the church began to falter in 1985, when the Internal Revenue Service stripped it of its tax-exempt status, charging it was nothing more than a front for Alamo-owned businesses. Cookies collect information about your preferences and your device and are used to make the site work as you expect it to, to understand how you interact with the site, and to show advertisements that are targeted to your interests. They say they were planning a honeymoon cruise for later, Amrhein said. Gordon, Ronald J. Claiming resurrection was imminent, hed kept Susan displayed in the compound for months before interring her body. Anyone can use it regardless of ability, approach, or level of acceptance by recognized authorities in the field. He was working as a music promoter. The foundation might have to pay up to $70,000 in back taxes. He accused me of having an ungodly statue of a man and a woman. Between 1986 and 1990, the preacher remarried twice. After years of legal troubles during which he was accused of engaging in abusive behavior against his followers, Alamo was convicted of ten child rape offenses in 2009. New congregants signed on, then the church transported them to a rural location of Agua Dulce, California, about an hour northeast, for a hot meal and a sermon. They also ran a nationwide network of lucrative, church-owned businesses, authorities said, including a distributor of designer denim and leather jackets, studded with rhinestones, that sold for $1,000 or more. She bore a child to Tony, a girl, Antoinette, in June of 2001. In 1976, the U.S. Department of Labor brought charges against Alamo for violations of the Fair Labor Standard Act. For more about the harrowing experiences of Amy Eddy and Pebbles Rodriguez and how they reclaimed their lives, watch tonights episode of People Magazine Investigates: Cults at 9 oclock ET on Investigation Discovery. Tony renamed the business and ran the organization as a benevolent and energetic father figure. He was ambitious, but few facts about his early life are verifiable as Tony tended to self-aggrandize. The Alamo Christian Foundation. Arkansas Historical Quarterly 76 (Autumn 2017): 218247. She may be prosecuted not only for unlawful flight but also for trying to obtain a passport under false pretenses. Lydia was in her early 30s. Just why Alamo had the corpsewhich he claimed spoke to him from the graveremoved from its tomb was not explained in Spears order. History: In Arkansas in January 1994, Elizabeth Mercado (aka Lizzy Gutierrez) became Tonys wife. Alamo has fathered three children by different women who live in his home as secretaries. By now, he was a millionaire with a large staff of workers. It would turn out this marriage would be forever for only one of them. If you can, provide 1-2 sources of information backing up this correction. Siege of the Alamos. People Weekly, June 13, 1983, pp. [16], Tony Alamo was arrested numerous times, beginning with an illegal weapons possession charge in 1966 for which he served time before he married Edith Opal Horn,[15][11] and culminating in his 2009 conviction on ten counts of transporting minors as young as 9 years old across state lines for sex. Hes a convicted tax evader and a flamboyant evangelist who once ran what authorities called a multimillion-dollar, Saugus-based cult. The Alamo Christian Foundation was an American cult founded in 1969 by Christian evangelist Tony Alamo and one of his wives, Susan Alamo. 1A, 6A. The Alamo Christian Foundation was set up in 1969 by husband and wife Tony and Susan Alamo, born Bernie Lazar Hoffman and Edith Opal Horn. Attorney Susan James of Montgomery, Ala., who represented Alamo during the trial in Ft. Smith, Ark., noted that Alamo was challenging Spears decision and said he had denied all of Coies allegations. In addition to clothing, the church produced music and began distributing Christian music and sermons nationally. "They did not leave a paper trail," said Tampa police Detective Grady Snyder. Her body was taken to the foundation's compound on a ridge overlooking the town of Dyer, Arkansas, where Susan Alamo was born as Edith . Around the time of his wifes death, Tony changed the name of the church and consolidated its power. A custody hearing will be held Monday in Huntington. Below are several (but not all) of Tony Alamos alleged wives. His skin is very white and clammy. Amrhein, who owns a real estate agency, said Alamos followers have gone to Huntington to pass out literature that says Amrhein beat his children and is emotionally unstable. I still do, said Coie, who last saw her mother in 1971 when she quit the sect against her parents wishes. The housing complex in Muldrow appears to be vacant. Were free! In February 1991, Alamo ordered his followers to vacate the Arkansas compound prior to a federal raid and to bring along the body of Susan Alamo. It would be three more years before Alamo followers would finally deliver Susan Alamos remains to Tulsa, Oklahoma, for proper burial under Coies supervision. When it became clear she wouldnt survive, she told church members she believed she would rise from the dead. Picture taken in 1993. [17][18][19][1][2], In June 2013, the federal government filed forfeiture and collection actions in federal court on 27 properties which were owned by members of Tony Alamo Christian Ministries, in an attempt to collect $2.5 million in restitution that Alamo was ordered to pay to his victims. Tony Alamo Christian Ministries. Between 1986 and 1990, the preacher remarried twice. Alamo followers still pepper the IRS with legal challenges, help with his defense, and make their presence known through their trademark brochures. In 1976, a few unhappy followers reported him to the U.S. Department of Labor, who investigated. Speaking of which: One way in which you can support us at no additional cost to you is by shopping at Amazon.com. Ten would be convicted on ten counts, all related to trafficking underage girls across state lines. The civil contempt differs from his criminal incarceration in that Mr. Alamo holds the key to the jailhouse in his possession, Spears wrote. Lets make the most of it.. The next raid wouldnt just be the feds and it wouldnt be a pesky tax problem. She threw Alamo out of her Los Angeles home last fall after he broke a 200 year old statue. Dear Abby. He preached he was the victim of a government conspiracy. Williams, John. I knew how he thinks, and what he might do, she said. [10][11] The church became the subject of controversy and as a result, it was frequently criticized for its manner of evangelization, which often involved young members of the congregation walking on the streets of Hollywood, inviting people to convert to Christianity and taking them to the church for evening services in Agua Dulce roughly an hour away for a meeting and a meal. A bitter Gyllenhammar, who runs two successful boutiques in Los Angeles and designs clothes for such Hollywood stars as Linda Evans, Joan Collins and Barbra Streisand, this week, insisted she is still legally married to Alamo, although she wishes she had never met him. To show you how much he has changed, at the hearing in New Orleans, he said I would beat him. Association chose him as entertainer of the year in 1985. In 1982, the same year that Susan Alamo died,[15] the foundation was discontinued and replaced by the newly incorporated Music Square Church (MSC). Encyclopedia of Arkansas Susan Alamo died in April 1982. If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article. On this Wikipedia the language links are at the top of the page across from the article title. Tony Alamo was born Bernie Lazar Hoffman on Sept. 20, 1934, to a Jewish family in Joplin, Missouri. For more information, contact 501-918-3025 orcalsfoundation@cals.org. Sharon Alamo seen leaving courthouse after Tony Alamo was found guilty of 10 counts of taking underage girls across state lines for sex 2009. The imprisoned Evangelist preacher Tony Alamo, who sexually abused young girls he considered to be his wives, has died after serving more than seven years of a 175-year prison sentence, authorities said. [22] Her. Alamo was recently convicted by a federal court jury in Texarkana, Ark., on 10 counts of transporting underage girls across state lines for sex. DEAR ABBY: I am in love with my best . The IRS Commissioner found that "MSC was so closely operated and controlled by and for the benefit of Tony Alamo that it enjoyed no substantive independent existence; that MSC was formed and operated by Tony Alamo for the principal purpose of willfully attempting to defeat or evade federal income tax; and that MSC was inseparable from Tony Alamo, and failed to operate for exclusively charitable purposes. The two immediately clicked, having much in common from midwestern, Jewish roots to a talent for showmanship and within months, Susan converted Bernie/Mark to hard-core Protestantism. Members usually lived in a commune and worked at an Alamo-owned business, turning over much of their salaries to the church. He lost the suit as well as an appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court in 1985, the same year that the IRS retroactively revoked the tax exempt status for his church for the years 1977 to 1980. Alamo Christian Foundation zeroed in on street kids, and there were no shortage in 1960s Hollywood. Alamos Fort Smith attorneys say they do not know if Alamo divorced Gyllenhammar and if he properly married Amrhein. You know, what gets me about this is [my mother] made him a multimillionaire many times over, Coie said. Additional support provided by the Arkansas General Assembly. Alamo also claimed that UFOs are divine messengers from heaven and signs of the end times. He keeps his life private but we will mention it as we found. [8] Converting from Judaism to Christianity, she became an itinerant evangelist before she met Hoffman. In the reported belief that she would rise from the dead,[4] her embalmed body was kept on display for six months,[8] before it was entombed in a heart-shaped marble mausoleum on church property. In the official record, Tony Alamo is listed as a pastor. Last week the children were taken away from her in New Orleans when authorities suspected she was trying to leave the country. His father was a Jewish immigrant from Romania who, Alamo claims, had been dance instructor for Rudolf Valentino. It also operated a drug rehabilitation facility, and those who were involved in the church developed several businesses in the Alma area. As the church expanded, it established other churches in Nashville, Chicago, Brooklyn, and Miami Beach. She said she did not plan to leave the country, although Amrhein thinks she and Alamo and the children were about to take a cruise on the Queen Elizabeth II. About 18 months later, his prophecy unfulfilled, Alamo erected a mausoleum on the property and entombed her there. On December 2, 2010, the Eighth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals upheld his conviction and sentence. Tony Alamo's Wife, Girlfriend His marital status is not known. Alamo quickly declared bankruptcy, and his related businesses collapsed. The grounds included a school, a printshop, a tabernacle and a workshop for producing clothing and garments. Amrhein doesnt believe the children went to school while they lived at the foundation in Dyer. A judge granted Alamo the maximum sentence for his crimes,175 years in prison. [21], The church was Protestant and Pentecostal in nature and it was frequently referred to as a sect of the Jesus movement. Alamo, who was born Bernie Lazar Hoffman, died Tuesday at the age of 82 while in custody at a federal prison hospital in Butner, N.C., the Bureau of Prisons said, according to the Associated Press. At the time, Susan was married to Coies late father, Solomon Samuel Lipowitz, whom she described as a good man and a prizefighter who was also a mobster. . Kizers ruling upheld an earlier decision by the state Department of Finance and Administration that six Alamo businesses in Alma and Dyer have no religious purpose and must pay sales taxes. She said last week that the financial award from her suit against Alamo, if it comes through, might see her daughters through college, or help pay her lawyer Charles Karr, whom she credited with sticking by her throughout the bizarre body case.. At one time, Alamo owned as many as twenty-nine businesses in nearby Alma, including Alamo Western Wear, as well as Alamo Restaurant and Alamo Discount Grocery. Tony was a street preacher and his ministry would offer . [4], After divorcing their respective spouses, Horn and Hoffman married in a 1966 Las Vegas ceremony, legally changing their names to Tony Alamo and Susan Alamo. In October 2007, Tony Alamo Christian Ministries was listed as a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center on account of its anti-Catholic rhetoric. Tony began a concerted effort to avoid reporting his income. On September 25, 2008, Alamo himself was arrested in Flagstaff, Arizona, on a federal warrant charging him with violating the Mann Act, a federal statute enacted to stop the trafficking of women or girls across state lines, over a period from March 1994 through October 2005. Tony spent the last 20 years in and out of prison, pioneered conspiracy talk radio, and built an empire that couldnt withstand the lust and greed of its creator. Alamos attorneys kept the issue before the courts from 1985 to 1992, arguing that church-owned enterprises were exempt from federal income taxes because they were churches in disguise. Her brother, Erik, who is out of the group, called Ark Child Protection in 2000, but no action was taken. She had just turned 16 years old. Misheal is still in the group and often reads the responses on Tonys radio broadcast. He lost, and would soon lose his tax-exempt status as the lawsuits piled up and dragged on through the 1980s. History: In California in February 1993 Tony Alamo took Lydia , an African American, as a second wife. But he wanted to spend his birthday with me so we got permission for him to stay two days longer. Dear Abby: My boyfriend is using me for sex and money. With the labor of their followers, the Alamos turned their church into a hefty financial empire, even as many members had to scavenge food from supermarket dumpsters and were forbidden from flushing the toilets more than every two or three days. This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged. Lydia and Tabor are no longer in associated with the group or Tony Alamo. Tony Alamo (born Bernie Lazar Hoffman; September 20, 1934) is an American religious leader and convicted child sex offender.He and his late wife Susan are best known as the founders of an organization currently known as Tony Alamo Christian Ministries.The organization is based in and around Fouke and Alma, Arkansas, United States, and has been referred to as a cult. Guilty Alamo Hears Bye, Bye outside Court. Arkansas Democrat-Gazette,July 25, 2009, pp. She is seeking a sizeable monthly alimony so she can take care of the bills she claims he hasnt paid. Original Design by Gurpartap Singh, Eye Witness & First Hand Accounts of Abuse. Tony Alamo and his wife, Susan, established a church in Nashville called the Music Square Church, located near Printers Alley. Tonys behavior after Susans death became troubling, but it turned out he had a long history of shady dealings and violent confrontations dating back to his days in Los Angeles. 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