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<text id=89TT2670>
<title>
Oct. 16, 1989: Judgment Day
</title>
<history>
TIME--The Weekly Newsmagazine--1989
Oct. 16, 1989 The Ivory Trail
</history>
<article>
<source>Time Magazine</source>
<hdr>
RELIGION, Page 65
Judgment Day
</hdr><body>
<p>The jury nails Jim Bakker on all 24 counts of fraud
</p>
<p> Just before the inevitable verdict came down last week, a
gaggle of Jim Bakker's faithful backers defiantly held aloft a
King James Bible opened to Psalm 17:3: "Thou hast tried me, and
shalt find nothing." But the jury sang a different psalm: Guilty
as charged on all 24 counts of defrauding the public of $3.7
million via TV, phone and mail. Testimony about one of the
ripest scandals in U.S. religious history had consumed 25 days;
the jury needed less than eleven hours to decide.
</p>
<p> Fittingly, the proceedings ended on a theatrical note. In
the bail hearing, Federal Judge Robert Potter said he could not
forget the parade of 35 Bakker loyalists who had spoken for the
defense. "They have a Jim Jones mentality," he said, in a
bizarre reference to the cult leader responsible for 900-plus
deaths by mass suicide. "I've seen these people out here who
think he could walk on water." Despite fears that Bakker's fans
might spirit him out of the country, Potter freed the telefelon
on a $250,000 secured bond; he must report daily to an Orlando
parole officer.
</p>
<p> Bakker, who will appeal, managed a trademark smile as he
told reporters after the trial, "I come out today still innocent
of the charges against me . . . My faith is still in God." Wife
Tammy Faye tried to put the best face on the situation by
singing a hymn and cooing, "It's not over till it's over."
</p>
<p> Nor did the trial want for drama. Bakker was led away for
psychiatric evaluation, one witness collapsed, and Hurricane
Hugo interrupted the proceedings. The usual details emerged
about Bakker's lavish spending habits (motorized bedroom
draperies, a $500 shower curtain). The prosecution's star
witness turned out to be Bakker himself. Jurors endured eight
hours of videotape showing his histrionic money pitches and then
heard the ex-preacher describe himself on the witness stand as
a "minister of the gospel," not a "professional businessman."
</p>
<p> Although Bakker will almost certainly not get the maximum
penalty (120 years and $5 million in fines) when he is
sentenced Oct. 24, he is likely to spend time behind bars.
Potter had earlier meted out a tough eight years in prison and
a $200,000 fine to former Bakker aide Richard Dortch, even
though Dortch testified for the prosecution. Two other staffers
who provided evidence drew draconian prison terms for tax
evasion.
</p>
</body></article>
</text>