TEXARKANA — Convicted evangelist Tony Alamo has been hospitalized for three weeks after a mild heart attack, his attorney said.
John Wesley Hall of Little Rock said during a court hearing Friday that Alamo also has double pneumonia and a liver ailment.
Alamo, 77, is serving a 175-year sentence at a federal prison in Terre Haute, Ind. He was convicted in July 2009 of taking five girls across state lines for sex.
The hearing was related to a civil lawsuit by six women who say Alamo took them as child “brides” and a seventh woman who says she was being groomed as his bride before she escaped his ministry in Fouke.
Lawyers in the civil case intend to question Alamo Dec. 14-15 at the prison. Texarkana attorney Neil Smith said the deposition can be rescheduled to accommodate Alamo’s physical condition.
Also addressed at the hearing were arrangements for defense-requested psychological examinations of the seven plaintiffs.
The suit initially named several high-ranking ministry members, ministry-run businesses and a security company as defendants. The plaintiffs claim the defendants have violated human trafficking laws and should have acted to protect them from Alamo.
Tony Alamo, Sharon Alamo and the plaintiffs’ parents were later added as third-party defendants by the original defendants. They allege the parents and the Alamos should be held accountable in the event of a judgment favorable to the plaintiffs.
There are at least 13 defendants in the case.
Hall did not immediately return a message left Saturday by The Associated Press, and a phone call to the prison rang unanswered.
Information for this article was contributed by The Associated Press.
Arkansas, Pages 19 on 11/20/2011