3 ask to weigh in on Alamo

Court told that ‘wives’ want to speak at his sentencing

— Three women whom evangelist Tony Alamo is accused of taking as “wives” at young ages and transporting across state lines have asked to speak at his sentencing hearing next week.

Alamo, the 75-year-old leader of a multistate ministry with headquarters in Fouke, in Miller County, was convicted in July of 10 counts of taking underage girls across state lines for sex. U.S.

District Judge Harry Barnes could sentence him to up to 175 years in prison at a hearing Nov. 13.

In a court filing Monday, prosecutors said three of Alamo’s five victims have asked to speak at the hearing. At least some of the victims have also provided written statements about how Alamo’s crimes affected them, the filing says.

The filing notes that, under the federal Crime Victims Rights Act of 2004, victims have “the right to be reasonably heard” at sentencing.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Chris Plumlee said it’s not unusual for victims to speak at a defendant’s sentencing.

“Typically the law allows for victim impact statements to be made to the court just to talk about how this type of crime has impacted their life,” Plumlee said.

Barnes had not ruled on the request late Tuesday.

Arkansas, Pages 12 on 11/04/2009

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