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Alamo is convicted on tax-related charges. He serves four years in prison and owes the government $7.9 million.
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Tony and Susan Alamo founded the Alamo Christian Foundation in Los Angeles, California. But begins to minister the street kids in Hollywood.
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The Alamos open a church and several other businesses to the North of LA. Followers who live in poor conditions and provide cheap labor are told that if they leave they will die, along with going insane, and lastly turn into a homosexual.
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The Alamos move to Alma, Ark., and open a church, and many businesses, including a nightclub. Bill Clinton visits the nightclub to see Dolly Parton perform and describes Tony Alamo as “Roy Orbison on speed.”
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The U.S. Labor Department charges that Alamo failed to pay employees who manufacture “Tony Alamo” brand sequined denim jackets. He loses the suit and a 1985 U.S. Supreme Court appeal.
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Susan Alamo dies of cancer. Her body is kept on display for six months while their followers pray for her resurrection.
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The IRS revokes the tax-exempt status of Alamo’s church.
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Alamo is charged with child abuse for ordering followers to beat an 11-year-old boy. Prosecutors drop the charge, citing lack of evidence. The child’s parents sue Alamo and win a $1.5 million judgment.
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The body of Susan Alamo is taken from a mausoleum on the cult’s compound in Arkansas after federal marshals seize the property to satisfy a legal judgment.
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A Memphis, Tenn., a grand jury indicts Alamo for evading income taxes in the late 1980s. Alamo becomes a fugitive. The FBI warns that he “is always accompanied by bodyguards who have access to numerous weapons, including M-14 rifles.”
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Alamo is released from prison, moves to Fouke, Ark., and re-establishes his church.
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Tony Alamo Christian Ministries is listed as a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center for its anti-Catholic statements. Alamo is implicated in the illegal sale of mattresses donated to Hurricane Katrina victims.
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Federal and state authorities, prompted by allegations of child pornography, search for Tony Alamo Christian Ministries. Child welfare workers took custody of six children.