As mentioned in the previous post, Ronald Weinland, the "prophet" and head of the "Church of God-Preparing for the Kingdom of God," was convicted last week of five counts of tax evasion for the years 2004-2008.
Two jurors from the trial have since surfaced and are sharing their observations on this post.
If you're a person who wants to find out what it takes for the IRS to go after a religious figure for tax evasion, this will give you a pretty good idea of what the IRS is looking for -- and how much slack they cut these guys. (Although, in this case, it looks like the evasion was pretty cut and dried. No doubt, not wanting to fight over every penny was done for judicial economy.) Weinland is currently out on bail and should be spending his Sabbaths with his foot nailed to the floor of his pricey house until he's sentenced in late September.
Yes, it's to avoid situations like this that professional flock fleecers (pretty much any televangelist) have tax accountants to make sure that every bit of money gets categorized correctly so that it's all on the up and up with the IRS. Even if they are buying gold-plated bathroom fixtures or purple-tinted wigs. It's all for the ministry, y'see.
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