Church leader ordered to serve jail term

Press, 20 July 1984, Page 6

Church leader ordered to serve jail term

NZPA-AP Waterbury, Connecticut An American judge ordered Sun Myung Moon yesterday to begin serving an 18-month prison term this week for a tax evasion conviction. Moon, aged 64, the founder and leader of the Unification Church, did not attend yesterday’s hearing before Federal District Judge Gerard Goettel. Moon, who was convicted in 1982 of failing to report $U5162,000 ($324,000) in income, must report to the Federal prison in Danbury, Connecticut, tomorrow, Judge Goettel said. The prison sentence was given to him two years ago, but he remained free while the case was on appeal. The United States Supreme Court refused to hear the case on May 14. Moon had been scheduled to enter prison on June 18. But Judge Goettel agreed to a delay while a lawyer, Michael McAllister, sought a deduced sentence or an alternative form of punishment.

Mr McAllister asked yesterday that the sentence be suspended or that Moon be “exiled” from the United States for no more than six months. But Judge Goettel said that six months was “not an exile by any means"

— especially since Moon spent several months a year abroad.

Lawyers for Moon, a Korean, had successfully argued two years ago against the United States Government’s attempts to have him deported, saying that “banishment” would be an overly severe penalty.

In mid-June, Mr McAllister told Judge Goettel that Moon had decided to drop previously announced plans to try to overturn his conviction to attempt to have the punishment changed or reduced.

Judge Goettel said yesterday that he always consid-

ered reducing a sentence, but that there was not sufficient reason in Moon’s case to warrant such action. The Judge said that he wanted to show the public “that wealth can’t affect” sentences given to convicted criminals. The Judge said that he had given careful consideration before ordering a prison term for a religious leader considered “divine” by his followers. It is “an unfortunate situation, and (Moon’s) followers will be unhappy” but the sentence would stand, he said. Moon has also been ordered to pay a $U525,000 ($50,000) fine and the cost of prosecution, which according to Mr McAllister the Government has estimated at SUS7O,OOO ($140,000). Mr McAllister argued that there should be no prison term because the absence of Moon would have “severe, tragic implications” for his 12 children. The family had been ridiculed throughout the entire court process and the emotional stress had intensified since the recent death of one of Moon’s sons. Mr McAllister also argued that Moon’s incarceration would cut off “daily access” to church leaders.