Robbed, Raped and Murdered in the House of God
All rights reserved
Mail to: walthope@hotmail.com
Posted at http://crooksag.tripod.com/
http://crooksag.tripod.com/crooks.pdf
To Dan Strader, the son of Pastor Karl Strader, who has
a hard time accepting why he was sentenced and jailed for forty-five years for
the crimes he committed mostly against the defenseless elderly in his community
of
To the State Attorney’s Wayne Durden and Jerry Hill and Judge Doyle of Polk county for their hard and true work to get justice, righteousness and truth, of whom Roy Aldrich wrote and stated that they were real men of God and not like the others who were supposed to be men of God, full of honesty and integrity.
To Roy Aldrich, who’s persistence, faith and courage finally paid off in seeing Dan Strader convicted and jailed for forty-five years and saw this book written in a large part before his death in February 1996.
To the media, in particular, Susan Barbosa of the Ledger of Lakeland and Keith Kohn of the Tampa Tribune, who were the only ones to support and give comfort to Roy and Patricia Aldrich, when they were robbed and beaten by thieves, wolves in sheep’s clothing, and were left by the wayside by so-called Christians. That was a crime yesterday and is still a crime today.
The
Speech in Carpenter’s Home Church
TV-Evangelists
and Mailbox Ministry
Sins
of Sodom and Gomorah, USA
We
Give No Offense In Anything?
"For
False Christ’s And False Prophets Will Rise
You Cannot
Serve God And Mammon
Do
Not Trust In Lying Words That Cannot Profit
Rolling
the Dice With the Jury
Clemency
for Strader? Don't Buy It
Carpenter's
Home Church Sold to Without Walls
Strader
Seeks Reduced Sentence
Judge
Denies Strader's Last-Chance Appeal Writ
Will
Dan Strader Get Out of Jail in 2006? No!
Your honor, there are more things than money—truth, honesty and justice. He [Strader] hasn’t been honest, and he is seeking to avoid justice with money.” (Assistant state Attorney Wayne Durden, Polk County, Florida at the sentencing of Dan Strader, 1995)
The name Strader carries weight in charismatic circles. Strader, 72, has been pastor of Carpenters Home for 35 years and has ministered at various churches nationwide. A Pentecostal church under the Assemblies of God denomination, Carpenters Home has owned radio stations, hosted concerts and conferences featuring big names in Christianity, such as evangelist Rodney Howard-Browne, gospel singer CeCe Winans and Christian music artists Jars of Clay and Michael W. Smith reported the St. Petersburg Times.
But the past 15 years have also carried controversy. Some Assemblies of God leaders, including televangelist Jimmy Swaggart, have publicly questioned Strader's theological teachings, according to the Lakeland Ledger. "We've been to hell and back," Strader said during a recent church service. About 800 of Strader's members left to form their own church in 1989, after a dispute over his leadership.
Then in 1994, Strader's son, Daniel, was arrested on fraud charges. He was convicted the next year and is serving a 45-year sentence in federal prison. A small number of fraud victims were members of the church, causing further tension. Strader said he believed his son was innocent and was treated unfairly by the system. But his son's appeals have been denied. Strader asked members of Without Walls to pray for his son's release, saying seven years behind bars was enough for a "white collar crime."
At one time membership rolls swelled to about 5,000. Strader
and a jubilant congregation had the 10,000-seat auditorium built, believing
that in time it would be filled to capacity. Instead, attendance dwindled.
Published the
The problem with lying and thieving preachers in
Then a man of God came to Eli and said to him, "Thus
says the LORD: 'Did I not clearly reveal Myself to the house of your father
when they were in
Carpenter's Home Finances
In our local news recently is a report that the Carpenter's
I wish The Ledger would investigate and publish the finances
of this deal. The Carpenter's
I have relatives who were members of that church since the 1940s, and they helped pay for it.
I have visited often in the past and heard many of Rev. Strader's sermons. I was puzzled why he often said in his sermons that anyone who disagreed with him should not make a fuss, just walk out the back door and leave.
His congregation has now dwindled down and he is left with a multimilliondollar facility.
My relatives left after Rev. Strader became a more-autocratic minister, there were questions about his family being given jobs at the church and his son was convicted of defrauding church members (mostly elderly ones) out of their life savings.
It seems to me part of the problem is that the Assembly of God denomination allows ministers to preside over board meetings instead of a church member, as in other more democratically operated Protestant churches.
Nonetheless, it was good Assembly of God people who paid for
that Carpenter's
The question before the public is, will it?
TRAVIS EPSHIRE Published The Ledger
Since the Garden of Eden, man has proclaimed his innocence and has refused to accept responsibility for his sins and deeds. However, the bible clearly gives us a solution in receiving with meekness the implanted Word, which is able to save our souls. Then it clearly tells us to be doers of the Word and not hearers only thereby deceiving ourselves.
Unfortunately, as documented by the Strader Affair, there were many who were deceived but very few who were doers of the Word as defined by the “History of the Revival of 1992-1995 6. Karl Strader” taken from a web site:
In February of 1993, Karl Strader, pastor of Carpenter’s
Home Church in Lakeland, Florida, and his wife, Joyce, were in Hawaii for a
Worship ‘93 conference, where Norvel Hayes prophesied that a tremendous great
wind of the Spirit was about to come to them. Joyce Strader wrote in Ministries
Today (July/August 1993, p. 38), “We arrived home Saturday night. That Sunday
morning Carpenter’s
During the first few months of 1993, Rodney Howard-Browne
spent a total of thirteen weeks at that church, and Christian leaders from many
parts of the United States, including Richard Roberts, chancellor of Oral
Roberts University, came to the meetings to observe and participate, and
minister in the new anointing. Charisma (Aug 1994, p. 24), stated that people
flew in for these meetings from
The effect of this so called revival in Carpenter’s
Also, on Monday morning,
We all like the pleasant things of God and life, and shy away from unpleasant and controversial things, such as the present day sins of the pastors and evangelists in this great land. We say things such as ‘touch not God’s anointed’ and some of us worship them as kings. The Prophet Isaiah reminded us:
“Be a shelter to them from the face of the spoiler. For the extortioner is at an end, devastation ceases, the oppressors are consumed out of the land.” (Isaiah 16:4)
Sometimes, others see and know more about the truth of the
Kings of Israel and others in that they were largely spoilers, thieves, liars
and oppressors. Not all Kings in
As a denomination, the Assembly of God has not accepted responsibility for the actions of their prominent members in their organization. It has done nothing to bring justice and healing to the real victims in these cases. Instead, they it has chosen to console and comfort the aggressors, the noble ones, and the perpetrators of the crimes. The victims were mostly elderly people, who didn’t have the physical strength or financial resources to fight back and recover what they lost.
The other fact of the matter is that because of the accurate
reporting of the Ledger and The Tampa Tribune, in central Florida, in 1994-95,
concerning Daniel Strader, Alice Faye Redd, the Assembly of God ministers and
pastors and what went on at Carpenter’s Home Church, many people were
justifiable upset with those who piously talked about God from their high
places but behind the scenes did hypocritical things. As a result, they wanted
nothing to do with God or Christians. What was not right and unfair was that
such a small number of people should do so much damage to other people’s lives
and to the
The Tampa Tribune ran a typical story in June 1996, about a
Pastor in
In like manner, the hierarchy of a denomination can become equally corrupt and crooked. However, when you have a church organization made up of honest and God-fearing people, full of integrity and accountability, it doesn’t matter which system predominates. When an organization is made up of dishonest and corrupt people, it still doesn’t matter which system is in operation because it will affect everyone. The same holds true for all forms of government both State and Federal.
We live in a day and age where many religious Christian organizations and churches been exposed, have tumbled and fallen because of financial mismanagement and serious accusations, that have been made by the media about some of the leaders and directors of these nonprofit organizations and corporations. Independent ministers have become offensive to the secular world and to some Christians, and we are sure there will be others. There have even been grand jury investigations and indictments of people such as Jim Bakker and Dr. Henry J. Lyons - men we would never have believed would have committed sexual and financial improprieties.
The St. Petersburg Times and the Tampa Tribune reported
almost daily about “Lying Lyons.” The
“Born Again” Rev. Henry Lyons, former head of the National Baptist Convention,
was sentenced to 5 ½ years in prison for his convictions on state charges of
racketeering and grand theft.
Judge Schaeffer ordered
A few weeks after
On his income tax, as a preacher,
Since 1994, the Lakeland Ledger, the Tampa Tribune and the
St. Petersburg Times all have had many stories about “born again” evangelicals
who say the love the Lord but do terrible and wicked things to God’s people. Stories
about religious evangelicals like the Straders of the 10,000-seat Carpenter’s
Pastor Karl Strader, a board member of
Bob Jones University leaders have criticized the pope and
labeled the Catholic church a ``Satanic cult'' say that the pope is the
antichrist, forbid interracial dating, and teaches that speaking in tongues as
a result of the Baptism of the Holy Spirit is of the devil!
BJU has trained more pastors than probably any other Fundamental college or university. Our graduates make up much of the leadership of Biblical
Daniel Strader, 37, was sentenced to 45 years in prison in August 1995. He was convicted of 238 felony counts for bilking 57 mostly elderly investors, some members of the church, out of $2.3 million by selling investments in properties that didn’t exist or already had liens against them.
The leadership of the Assembly of God denomination both in
The State prosecutors proved their case and convinced the jurors that Dan Strader devised an elaborate scheme to attract cash in the real-estate and mortgage investments. He was selling the securities without a license and that the securities were unregistered. This was done in an organized method amounting to Racketeer-Influence and Corrupt Organizations, or RICO Act.
Jim Bakker helped dedicate Carpenter’s
Bakker, 54, was convicted in 1989 of defrauding 116,000
followers who sent him at least $1,000 each in return for promised lodging at
his religious/recreational complex, Heritage
Who would have believed that the “Strader” name in
For too long we have sat back and accepted this situation, and let others look into the allegations of wrong doings. Then we are all surprised that some of these allegations turned out to be true. Unfortunately for us, power and greed corrupts people who have been in their position too long and assume it is their God-given right to do as they please.
Many organizations including the Senate and the House of Representatives are plagued with those who have been there too long and begin to abuse their privileges and rights. Nonprofit religious and charitable organizations are no exception and suffer from the same problems human dilemma.
There is a thread of corruption, greed, evil and preying on the weak and misfortunate by local pastors, like Karl Strader; to prominent national Assembly of God ministers, like Bakker and Swaggart, within the Assembly of God organization itself that is based on connections and influence and is devoid of honesty, truth, integrity and righteousness.
The nice meek people like Roy and Patricia and Associate
Pastor Jim who caused the 1989 split at Carpenter’s
The money that flows through Carpenter’s
More money is embezzled from the church each year ($16 billion) than is given to foreign missions ($15 billion) reported the newly published second edition of the World Christian Encyclopedia. The exhaustive survey of global Christianity contains some good news. It notes that Christianity has become “the most extensive and universal religion in history,” with some 2 billion adherents—one in three of the world’s population—at the start of the new millennium.
The last century has also seen a huge shift in the racial makeup of believers globally, from 81 percent white in 1900 to 55 percent non-white last year. The charismatic renewal has also been a major influence in the last 100 years, with 520 million current members of Pentecostal and charismatic denominations and movements. Almost 800 million people have been touched by the Spirit since 1900.
But the fine print of the massive publication also contains some disturbing information. Among the startling findings of the research team is that:
More money is embezzled from the church each year ($16 billion) than is given to foreign missions ($15 billion).
Consider this fact that in a one year period of
(Mind Jesus Christ did not keep His total salary a secret like Bill Bright has continually done!)
CCC is in theory an interdenominational Christian evangelistic and discipiling ministry with the objective of helping the local church and other organizations fulfill the Great Commission (Matthew 28:18-20) in this generation BUT TONGUE-SPEAKERS ARE NOT WELCOMED nor MIRACLES and HEALINGS! Even though Jesus Christ healed the sick, cast out devils and drove money changers out of the House of God with a whip!
Founder and Chairman Bill Bright of Campus Crusade for
Christ who along with his wife makes up fifty percent of the board of directors
of this nonprofit religious organization wears
thousand dollars suits and claims to make on forty thousand dollars are year.
But of course, unlike President Bush or other public servants, Bill Bright
doesn’t release his total compensation to his donors or the public and definitely
not his personal income tax!
Because of the separation of the church and state in the
American Constitution, the American Evangelical religious leaders such as Bill
Bright, Jerry Falwell, Pat Robertson, Charles Stanley, Louis Paula and
Billy and Franklin Graham have a field day in stealing money from the
sheep in the name of the one who would never do such a thing. They have
developed an art in legally being wolves in sheep’s clothing that is not
allowed in
It is a fact that none of the prominent evangelical leaders
in
In United States, in the last few years, many evangelical churches and religious organizations have gotten together because of a religious scandal in Texas, involving Larry Lea of On the Rock Church, W. A. Grant and Robert Tilton of Dallas. The television media brought it out, and while others such as Dr. Billy Graham who was most hurt by it formed an organization called Evangelical Council of Financial Accountability insisting accountability and financial responsibility in religious organizations so there would be no cause for offense in anything or needless loss of money. Apostle Paul wrote:
We give no offense in anything, that our ministry may not be blamed. (2 Corinthians 6:3)
Avoiding this: that anyone should blame us in this lavish gift which is administered by us. (2 Corinthians 8:20)
Christian Religionists, Evangelicals, Baptists, Charismatic and Pentecostals, all teach, that as stewards of God, everything we have belongs to Him and it is very important that we provide:
“Honorable things, not only in the sight of the Lord, but also in the sight of men.” (2 Corinthians 8:21)
Yet, very few churches and religious organizations, who although they state they believe the bible and the importance to provide “honorable things,” most of them don’t belong to an organization that practices financial responsibility and open accountability.
Also, they keep the salary of the senior pastor of the Church or the senior evangelist, a secret. Why? I can’t answer that, but I do know it does give offense, in the secular and religious world. If you are honorable there is no reason not to reveal your income if it is within acceptable norms. The salaries of other public servants, including the President of United States and the first Lady, are known.
In an intelligent society such as ours, any church or organization that is not openly accountable, shouldn’t be soliciting money from its members or adherents, who are the public at large. Somehow, all churches and church corporations should be warned and told they must be accountable, and be open and do all things above board where possible.
Hence, as a “news reporter” and “editor” rather than a “theologian” or “gifted one,” I have tried to report and make comments on events that actually happened rather than what should have happened. Many have come to realize and appreciate, that in America in the 80’s, there was a minority of pastors and evangelists, belonging to a minority denomination, the Assembly of God, who caused the majority of religious scandals that affected all the Christians in America. Arrogant, rebellious and scandalous people like Jim Bakker, Jimmy Swaggart and Pastor Karl Strader, who were “Born Again Evangelicals.”
It would be wrong to generalize and to associate all pastors
or evangelists with these troublemakers. Nevertheless, we had personally written randomly to over
two hundred and fifty evangelists and pastors in
Many of these pastors and evangelists live and behave like kings of their own kingdoms, rather than like servants of the living God, as they should be. Humility and submission are words they must reintroduce into their own vocabulary and lives before they teach others.
Contrary to many pastors’ and evangelists’ point of view, we as Christians don’t exist primarily to serve them or to give them money but to serve the King of kings and Lord or lords. In our Heavenly Father’s eyes, we are all equally important. He has no favorites and is definitely not a respecter of persons -although, some pastors and evangelists would like us to believe otherwise.
We have over us only one King and His Name is Jesus. We are all bondservants to each other in the body of Christ, not just in words but in deeds. Pastors and evangelists are not and never were meant to be kings over us or over anyone else for the matter. They are there to serve us and not we to serve themselves.
The prominent Pentecostal and charismatic evangelists and pastors, especially in AG, who don’t know what the word integrity means should look it up in the American Heritage Dictionary, which defines it as:
Probity, complete and confirmed integrity; uprightness, of principles and practices: honesty, honor, honorableness, incorruptibility, uprightness, moral soundness, virtue, purity, morality. Also, integrity corresponds with fact or truth: veracity, accuracy, correctness, faithfulness, fidelity, truthfulness, honesty, frankness, openness, sincerity, exactness, verity, exactitude, and precision. Also, it defines integrity as the moral quality of a course of action, morality, moralness, ethicalness, propriety, righteousness, rightness and the state of being whole: completeness, entirety, oneness, totality and wholeness.
However, on the other side of the coin the words associated with the opposite of integrity are:
duplicity, deceit, immorality, dishonor, untruthfulness, deception, deceit, falsehood, fabrication, unethicalness, impropriety, partiality and incompleteness.
The latter things can be easily associated with Evangelical
pastors, such as Jim Bakker, Jimmy Swaggart,
Karl Strader, Dr. Henry J. Lyons, Dr. Bill Bright, Pat Robertson, Oral
Roberts, Kenneth Copeland, and Dr. Billy Graham . In other words, if we have
faith we will have integrity, responsibility and accountability. These are
words that are missing in many of our churches in
However, for the record and to my knowledge, there has been no acknowledgment or acceptance of any responsibility by the prominent Men of Integrity in the Assembly of God, concerning the deeds and actions of AG Pastors like Karl Strader and Jim Bakker, whose leadership has resulted in many poor and defenseless elderly people being raped, murdered and robbed.
Roy and Patricia Aldrich of
A chaplain wrote to me in January 1996 and stated:
Also, a couple of months back I saw a prominent A/G minister from the Orlando area, I think his name was Charles Groden (something like that), who was caught on video tape dancing with nude women in a strip joint in Orlando. District Superintendent Terry Raburn was on T.V. saying that the pastor denied the charges and said that it wasn’t him and he had been set up by a look-alike. Inside Edition then put the minister on split screen in pulpit and in the bar. It was definitely him or a cleverly edited tape or a twin brother. It has to be him. The report went on to say that Groden(?) was involved in a drug deal gone bad and a pistol whipping of another man. Police identified him as one of three men present at the pistol whipping incident.
God bless you!
We have learnt something interesting about many Pastors,
Preachers, Superintendents, and Evangelists in
Blessed is the man who endures temptation; for when he has been approved, he will receive the crown of life which the Lord has promised to those who love Him. Let no one say when he is tempted, "I am tempted by God;" for God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does He Himself tempt anyone. But each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed. Then, when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, brings forth death. (James 1:12-15)
Roy Aldrich
died prematurely at the age 65, as a direct result of the stress and betrayal
by his friend and pastor Karl Strader and the deeds and actions of his son,
Daniel Strader.
Dan Strader was convicted of stealing our life savings of $ 100,000.00 by using lies and deceit and since your question about the effect on our lives is probably the must important factor to you and the Parole Commission, let me simply repeat the words of Jerry Hill, state attorney of Polk County: "The crimes of Dan Strader have done more damage to more elderly people than any homicide that I have prosecuted “
Dan's thefts have forced us to sell our house and most of our personal possessions and move into a trailer. He has shown absolutely no remorse and Judge Robert Doyel who presided over this case stated: "The first step toward rehabilitation is admission of wrong doing, and therefore I feel that Dan Strader will never be rehabilitated."
What Mr. Strader did was calculated and carefully planned
with a willful disregard for the lives of others to such an unbelievable degree
of extremity that my wife and I still cannot
understand why anyone would try to destroy us in this fashion,
especially since we had given faithful service to the Carpenter’s Church in
Lakeland pastored by Karl Strader, Dan’s Father.
The comedian Flip Wilson loved to say the “devil made me do it.” Thereby implying that He was innocent of the guilt and consequences for his deeds and actions. The truth of the matter is neither the devil nor God who makes a person do it. God doesn’t tempt anyone and the devil is only a magnet which draws out what is already there in man and has not been dealt with by the Holy Spirit.
People get involved continually in other peoples’ lives either using them or speaking against them, and then they think that they are innocent of the resulting consequences. However, they are not innocent because they were taken away by their own lust and enticed, were carried away into evil thoughts and actions. As a result, they will all pay. God’s Word states:
"But if you indeed obey His voice and do all that I speak, then I will be an enemy to your enemies and an adversary to your adversaries. (Exodus 23:22)
No weapon formed against you shall prosper, and every tongue which rises against you in judgment you shall condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the LORD, and their righteousness is from Me," says the LORD. (Isaiah 54:17)
We place ourselves on very dangerous ground when we attack and hurt one of God’s Children, especially if he or she is a true servant of the Lord. Then it is a guarantee from the Word of God that God will become our enemy and our adversary for God’s Word clearly states:
The LORD is in His holy temple, the LORD'S throne is in heaven; His eyes behold, His eyelids test the sons of men. The LORD tests the righteous, but the wicked and the one who loves violence His soul hates. Upon the wicked He will rain coals; fire and brimstone and a burning wind shall be the portion of their cup. For the LORD is righteous, He loves righteousness; His countenance beholds the upright. (Psalm s 11:4-7)
Remind them to be subject to rulers and authorities, to obey, to be ready for every good work, to speak evil of no one, to be peaceable, gentle, showing all humility to all men. For we ourselves were also once foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving various lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful and hating one another. (Titus 3:1-3)
The Lord in his temple sees with His eyes and tests the righteous but He hates the wicked and the one who loves violence and will rain coals, fires, brimstone and burning wind upon him. The Lord is righteous and upright and His face is toward the upright. He will deal in due season with the foolish, disobedient, deceived ones who are serving their own lusts and pleasures and speaking evil of others in their arrogance and pride. He will deal with them as He did with Dan Strader.
God has made a promise to his servants that He will bless all those who bless them and all those who have cursed, spoken against or spitefully used them. He will use them and deal with them as they have dealt with others, then they will be destroyed because of their evil thoughts and ways. For God is not to be mocked what a man sows he will also reap.
Well, my family and I were there that Sunday morning on
In it we were told how wicked and evil the conspirators were who were really the perpetrators of the crimes responsible for Daniel’s demise. They included some who now belonged to Victory Assembly of Lakeland (the church resulting from the 1989 split of CHC) and others, such as Roy (65) and Patricia, formerly of CHC, Jason (62), and Walter (67). They were talked about as though they were the perpetrators of the crimes and not Daniel.
Karl also stated the following in his prepared statement which should be read twice because it reveals a lot about the person of Karl Strader, a man gifted with oratorical words but devoid of understanding their reality and application:
“I still don’t know all the ramifications of Dan’s business. It’s too complicated for me. And I certainly don’t pretend to know all about securities laws. I know very few people who really do. I know Dan is one of the most gifted children. He loves God and I can’t believe he ever intended to hurt anybody. I don’t think he is malicious in anyway. I don’t think he was scheming to defraud anybody.
I do know that he’s an entrepreneur who has gone “belly up” in a sour economy, has taken a number of unusual hits below the belt business wise, has taken investments from certain investors he should have avoided, has received some terrible advice from his company’s attorney about securities in particular, and I also believe that there’s a conspiracy among certain people in town to bring him down.
The newspaper reported this past week that he’s humbled but not repentant. The truth is that the plea bargain Dan himself said, he was made to lie when he had to say he was guilty of some of the charges. His conscience is really bothering him about that. He knows he’s not been perfect and realizes he has made, as we would call them, “some pretty dumb mistakes.” But to intend to mislead or to defraud people no.
I do feel sorry for those of us who invested money with Dan...I am truly sorry that investors had been hurt.
Our family’s more than grateful for the sacrificial gifts from some of you that came in for Danny’s defense fund.
However, Dan and Melissa are seeking God. Their trust is in the Lord.
James, the brother of Jesus wrote to Pastor Karl Strader and others:
If anyone among you thinks he is religious, and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his own heart, this one's religion is useless. Pure and undefiled religion before God and the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their trouble, and to keep oneself unspotted from the world. (James 1:26-27)
While Karl referred to the victims of Dan’s crimes as investors and talked about their hurt and sacrificial gifts for Danny’s defense fund, no funds were ever set up by the Straders, by the Assembly of God, or members of the church, for all the widows of Dan’s crimes, real people like Patricia Aldrich and others. Also, former staff members of CHC related to us that Karl and Dan weren’t on speaking terms since 1989 until the time Dan was arrested in 1994.
LORD, who may abide in Your tabernacle? Who may dwell in Your holy hill? He who walks uprightly, and works righteousness, and speaks the truth in his heart; He who does not backbite with his tongue, nor does evil to his neighbor, nor does he take up a reproach against his friend; in whose eyes a vile person is despised, but he honors those who fear the LORD; He who swears to his own hurt and does not change; He who does not put out his money at usury, nor does he take a bribe against the innocent. He who does these things shall never be moved. (Psalms 15:1-5)
The following
is a speech that Dan Strader gave from the pulpit of Carpenter’s
“I prepared two different statements for this morning, one that I'm sure Dad would prefer I read and the other from my heart. I'm not quite sure which to share with this congregation till just now.
C. S. Lewis said truth comes out of a man when he is being tortured. I've been tortured for more than a year, seven and a half weeks of that confined to a 6 foot by 9 foot jail cell. Now in less than six weeks the state penitentiary will be my new home for the next fourteen years. But I feel that you are owed an explanation and more importantly an apology.
I'm very sorry for the reproach and embarrassment that I've brought to my father and this congregation. Friday's headlines read, "Strader enters guilty plea." Another said, "Minister's son guilty of scam.' How ironic that six years ago this next month my father was making headlines in this same newspaper with "Carpenter's pastor faces church vote." My father's sixty-six accusations were drafted by a church board member who along with eleven others on that board at that time wanted his resignation. That individual is now a prosecuting attorney with the State Attorney’s office that filed 303 counts against me. Enough charges that if convicted would have been a 750 year sentence life in prison.
Another individual on that same board read the sixty-six accusations against my father. You need to know that he and his wife were the ones who offered many of my investors interest rates in excess of 30% tax free to move their funds from my company to their investments. Is it any wonder I had a rush on the bank as one reporter commented. There wasn't even an investigation launched by the state until the newspaper was encouraged by these same individuals to run a story.
One of the officials who chaired a portion of that meeting six years ago had funds invested with that board member along with at least 30 others in this congregation who joined one of the chairmen to form another church. One of the headlines six years ago read, "Strader blesses new group." For a short time they were.
Although that conspiracy has now been exposed in another set of headlines, there are always casualties in warfare but just as a member of this congregation supported my father six years ago, I trust that you will stand with him and my family once again. It was this church body and my father's friendships across this nation that came to my assistance and not my associates in Amway and other business circles. All but a handful abandoned me and my family but I forgive them.
I want to say that I'm sorry to the investors that have experienced financial loss. There was never any scam or scheme to defraud anyone. That intent never even entered my mind. Unfortunately, we judge ourselves by our motives and intents and others by their actions.
Some have said that my father was insensitive and unsympathetic to the investors. Some have even suggested that the church should repay investors. What most of them did not realize was that my own father was an investor. He too was experiencing similar emotions that many investors share with the loss of their hard earned dollars.
Some demonstrated their anger though to the extreme. One investor met me at the door of one of my rental properties where my wife and children were residing a day after Thanksgiving. I repeatedly ordered him off of the property. He cursed me, then hit me in the face followed by repeated blows to my body. I forgive him. He didn't know the whole story. He had every right to be angry.
I was accused of cashing checks, investors checks and pocketing 'the funds for my own personal use. That simply was not true. I chose to do business with this financial institution because banks are notorious for placing holds on large deposits for indeterminate periods of time. This can be disabling for a business like ours that operated on a close margin of cash flow.
The checks were predominately out of state checks from
the attorney and owner of our company, and another business associate in
Every dollar was accounted for and properly documented to the internal revenue service and the other federal agencies that monitor these type of transactions. The institution we did business with was compensated for their services and all of the associated banks had full knowledge of the service provided. Any portion of those funds that may have come to me would have been incidental and appropriate and would not have devalued the nature of the transaction.
Another accusation was that. I sold property to more than one investor. Again that simply was not true. There were multiple parties who had shared interest in the same property. There is not a developer in this community who is not familiar with capitals and partnerships, first, second and sometimes even third mortgages on properties, construction loans, wrap around mortgages, discounted mortgages, buy downs in financing, refinancing, partial releases, subordination agreements, liens in property taxes, secured loans, and unsecured loans. The list is endless.
I was further accused of not even having property. That
was not true. During the period in question our company had an interest in over
seventeen properties. One was a seventeen unit mobile home park with a
residential manager that was sold to Home Depot on US Hwy. 98 North. Our
company had an integral part in bringing that store to
Finally, there was the airship deal. One of the individuals who participated directly with the owner of our company on this transaction was from our church. My father had cautioned me on doing business with this individual. I didn't listen. My wife asked me not to have any more dealings with this same individual. I ignored her requests and didn't disclose to her the nature or the particulars of this arrangement.
She later insisted on going to
So what did I do wrong?
1. I didn't follow through with the intricate details of every business transaction to insure the integrity of every investment I represented. Although I surrounded myself with a team of attorneys, accountants, and other financial advisors, I was ultimately responsible.
2. I made promises and commitments to others based on the representations made to me. Consequently when those were broken to me, my word became worthless to others thus tarnishing my credibility. That still no excuse. I should have made adequate disclosure to investors so that their expectations would be balanced with reasonable performance on agreements.
3. I compromised on principles that I've governed my life by particularly when I went into business and continued to do business with certain investors and associates that were unconsecrated. There were cautions from my wife. I shoved them aside. I should have listened. General Shwartzkof said, "It's not a man's lack of confidence that brings him down but his lack of character. "
4. I made some
poor judgment calls during a sour economy.
I should have forced our company's owners to make some decisions that
were critical to our company's survival. I tried but failed. I was not allowed
to have contact with our owners during the time of my release on bond. We ended
up losing over a million dollars in real estate holdings to another unscrupulous
attorney in this community and his client just a few weeks ago. Our CPA in
So where did the state come up with all the charges
against me? When an individual or corporation sells stock or issues promissory
notes or certificates, that constitutes a security. Under
Count one: failure to register a security.
Count two: failure to be licensed to sell securities.
Therefore, if we fail to do the first two our security is fraudulent.
Thus count three: securities fraud. So therefore, if what we sold is fraudulent consequently you have--
Count four: grand theft. If one or more individuals involved you have a conspiracy. When you have conspired to sell a fraudulent security you are charged with racketeering. Multiply that times the number of victims and you begin to understand why the number of counts against me were so high.
Thursday, within minutes of a hearing to obtain money for my defense, I was informed by counsel of the offer from the state. I was told that to reject the offer was risky. A lengthy appeals process that could have taken me all the way to the Florida Supreme Court would have ensued.
I didn't have a choice. We didn't have the financial resources to provide an adequate defense. The state has virtually unlimited resources. They had already spent an estimated $248,000.00 to prosecute me. The $40,000.00 paid to my attorney from an assistance fund that several of you helped out with was only a drop in the bucket in comparison to the state's resources.
A plea bargain is just that. You bargain on what you will plead guilty to. I told my father after I was through Thursday, I felt they could have added charges of aggravated assault, sexual battery, manslaughter, and whatever they wanted to throw in. I felt very uncomfortable with the plea. I felt very disillusioned with the whole process.
I've never even taken a penny off of my parents dresser as a kid. I don't even open my wife's mail or dig through her purse without her permission. But unfortunately that's the way our criminal justice system is set up.
Seven hundred and fifty-eight years versus fourteen years. I guess I got a real good bargain all right.
I truly hurt for the investors, especially those who are in real hardship situations but you never got to hear from most of them You know why, it didn't make good press. Most of them would just simply like me to have the opportunity to make repayment to them even if it takes awhile. Some of the investors are appalled and shocked as I am at the prospect of my imprisonment. Some of them need the money now to live on not fourteen years from now.
Restitution on the amount of money the state claims I owe if allowed to compound for the next fourteen years at 12% interest would be nearly 18 million dollars. Then they expect me to repay at least 10 % of that amount each year. I believe that's 1.8 million dollars per year. Of course the opportunities for me to earn that kind of money in fourteen years are endless. It's a travesty of justice. The investors are victims.
The three investors who have been showcased throughout this whole ordeal are not representative of all the investors But these three have several things in common. First of all, this wasn't their life savings. Their net worth ranged from a quarter of a million dollars to well in excess of a million dollars. Secondly, even if they were all paid off today, they are full of such hatred my life would still be in danger. As we exited the hearing Thursday the one investor attempted to run over my father, Melissa' and me. A former member of this church who was in the car with him, told me he would see me in hell before he would lose his money. Another said I needed to he squashed like bug. Another placed a contract out on my life while I was in jail over the summer and told me my wife and children are equally as guilty and need to die.
Something else they had in common. They were jealous over the relationship I had with my own father and family because each one of them had such dark mysterious pasts. One spouse told me her husband had molested her daughter, another his son was murdered in a sour dope deal, and still another has a drunkard for a son who has been in and out of the same jail I was in.
And all three couldn't stand the revival we had with Rodney Howard Browne. One commented 'hat Rodney was a charlatan and was calling on demons to cause people to fall on the floor or laugh uncontrollably. Another called the revival a circus and still another blasphemed and cursed the move of God ever; time he visited the sanctuary looking for me or my father to threaten us. I forgive these individuals. I harbor no bitterness or resentment towards them. But I refuse to accept judgment from these three individuals
I trust that when I am sentenced on March 15 that the honorable Judge Doyel will take into consideration the wishes of 'the true victims that have been hurt and not these impostors.
I want to close with the most important apology that
needs to be made publicly and that's to my wife Melissa and my two
children, Steele, 6 and,
I didn't listen to you when you sensed that certain individuals were manipulating and betraying me. Instead, I took income and savings away from you and the kids and gave it to a few unregenerate investors to appease them ( Roy Aldrich) only to have them wish us dead. Those funds should have been there for you and the kids in the event of my disability or what has now turned into my incarceration. I've allowed us to become homeless and broke. I have abandoned you. I am no longer your provider or protector.
And a man that does not provide for his own is worse than
an infidel. You have every right to
divorce so you may have an opportunity to rebuild your life. Fourteen years is a long time to wait. You have no promise or guarantee of the man I
be. Our children deserve much better
than this. But I hope you will find it
in your heart to forgive me. I know that
you love me and perhaps the respect you once had for me will be restored,
For those who do not understand what con men do they lie,
deceive others or simple don’t tell the whole truth. In this context Dan
Strader’s ten minute speech must be considered appropriately. The Tampa Tribune
on
Durden then pressed Strader on what his morals were all about.
“Do you feel it was wrong to lie to people? He asked.
“Yes.”
“But you did it anyway?”
“Yes,” Strader responded. “I definitely feel I compromised on ethical and moral conduct.”
“What kind of value system do you have to enable you to lie to people?” the prosecutor pressed.
“I had a very poor value system.”
Basically, the lies and derogatory remarks that were made in the house of God from the pulpit of an Assembly of God church were unbelievable. While the Assembly of God did nothing about this speech or use of a pulpit in such a way even though they were asked to look into the matter, it was noted and acted upon by the State Attorney and Judge Doyle. Dan’s bail was revoked two days after this speech and he had to spend the next sixty days in jail for this violation.
"I know your works, your labor, your patience, and that you cannot bear those who are evil. And you have tested those who say they are apostles and are not, and have found them liars; and you have persevered and have patience, and have labored for My name's sake and have not become weary.” (Revelation 2:2-3)
Concerning
the speech made by father and son on that Sunday morning of
Their remarks didn’t stand up to the test of reality and honesty. Dan’s stated refusal to accept judgment from these three individuals was identical to his Dad’s characteristic behavior pattern. Karl had stated to many others when he was questioned and examined by others for deeds inconsistent with the character of Jesus that He had nothing to say and that God would defend him.
As a direct result of Dan’s speech at Carpenter’s
The prosecuting attorney must have been a really intelligent person to have seen that Dan and Karl Strader were both crooks who used the trust of others for their own purposes. He saw through their protests of innocent and their belief that they were being framed by others who were out to get them.
Although, I would like to personally congratulate the prosecuting attorney for a job well done, he didn’t completely finish his assignment because as Roy Aldrich would put it “there is another Strader who needs to be in jail.“
The Straders who are good with words have never been good at seeing themselves for what they really are. But who is? Some are more honest than others and some are more crooked than others.
The Straders couldn’t recognize the truth, even if it hit them on the head. That Karl Strader was preaching truth in a flagship church among the Assembly of God churches, is even more strange, and one must really wonder what else is wrong with the Assembly of God.
Jose in his letter of
Now that Pastor Karl Strader’s own flesh and blood, namely his son Daniel has been “caught in a web of sin.” Pastor Strader seems to forget what he has been preaching for years from the Bible, “ Be sure your sins will find you out.”
In my opinion, Dan Strader got his background with all
honesty because Pastor Strader receives a humongous salary, plus many other
benefits, which his close-knit board knows about. If the average person who
attends Carpenter’s
My own independent research and months of work would later bring me to the same conclusion as Jose made in his letter about Dan’s sins and Karl’s humongous salary plus many other benefits. It was for this reason that the executives of CHC Inc. and the Assembly of God, would later stonewall me at different times because they didn’t want the truth to come out.
The Secretary Treasurer of Carpenter’s Home Church Inc., or “Brother Joe” as Karl would call him, would write to me that “the salaries are private and confidential.” Maybe, it was for this reason Pastor Karl Strader never called me “brother Walter,” because my salary was not humongous, I was not an accountant and didn’t play with money and people’s lives.
Roy Aldrich, in his letter of
There are statements being made by the officials of the Carpenter’s Home church that indicate that they thing that The Ledger and the State Attorney are “ out to get us.”
Leading religious people believing that their group is the “ insiders” and the legitimate arms of the government and society are the outsiders is exactly the same attitude promoted by David Koresh and Jim Jones, both of whom led their followers to disaster.
The fact of the matter is that Dan Strader, Karl Strader’s son, took savage and selfish action against a large group of elderly people whose lives have been shattered by his alleged illegal borrowing scheme.
My wife and I lost our life savings to Dan’s false promises and all the people of Polk county can be thankful to Chuck Zeller [ Investigator] and others of the State Attorney’s office that they have some one to defend them and represent public against con men and deceivers.
Being a minister’s son should not make a difference in the application of criminal justice.
The value of the article in the Ledger about my wife
being fired from
Roy Aldrich really brought out the seriousness of Dan
Strader’s crime and Karl Strader’s vengeful act, in getting
Walter of Lakeland, in his letter printed by the Ledger, stated
almost prophetically and very intelligently about the speeches in Carpenter’s
Rev. Strader claims that his son trusts God. How can anyone so devoid of conscience even claim to know God? Dan Strader is going to find out that God is on the side of all those elderly people whom he so cunningly fleeced.
Rev. Strader gave a graphic description of the cell his son is in. What does he want? The Ritz Carleton or maybe the Sheraton Inn on Florida Avenue? Give me a break. Who is Rev. Strader, Dan Strader or anyone else to dictate where he should be incarcerated?
On
In a tearful 14 minute speech to his father’s congregation Sunday Morning, Daniel Strader apologized and offered his explanation of what has led him to the brink of a 14 - year prison sentence. [A plea bargain agreement which Dan would later reject and received a 45 year sentence instead.]
But Strader’s comments include blame against his advisers and accusations of death threats and of a conspiracy against him by Alice Faye Redd, the former grand dame of Polk’s Republican Party who is now an accused con artist herself.
“ I want to say I am sorry to the investors that have experienced financial loss,” the younger Strader told a congregation of 2,000. “There never was a scam or a Scheme to defraud anyone. That intent never entered my mind.” [Although court testimonies and record would show this another Strader lie.]
“ So what did I do wrong?” Strader 36, asked the congregation. “I didn’t follow through with the intricate details of every business transaction to ensure the integrity of every investment I represented.”
He was that he was ill-advised by his attorneys and accountants, he failed to heed the advice of his wife and “made some poor judgment calls during a source economy.” But he said “I was ultimately responsible.” [ Amen and Amen.]
The Rev. Karl Strader prefaced his own son’s speech with a few comments of his own Sunday Morning saying, “he’s an entrepreneur who’s gone belly-up in a sour economy...and also believe there has been a conspiracy among certain people in town to bring him down.
Strader said he felt sorry for those investors who did lose money they entrusted to him, but also said the Loudest complaints against him have come from only a few of the investors, who did not lose their life saving and are still wealthy.
Roy Aldrich’s letter to the Editor concerning the speech,
titled “Strader’s talk vengeful” printed by the Ledger on
In Dan’s Strader’s 14 minute speech to the people at a
service at the Carpenter’s
His slashing references to three of his investors at that so-called church service include personal attacks not related in any way to financial matters. They are the vengeful ravings of a brat who took advantage of his father’s permission to say anything he wanted.”
Can anyone comprehend the level of arrogance involved when a thief criticizes those he robbed.
Since I am one of the three he was told to avoid, I wish to God he had listened to whoever told him that. If he had, my wife and I would still have our life savings.
From the pulpit of a church that is supposed to be the place where healing and peace are preached, Dan is allowed by his father to rip open old wounds and make them bleed some more.
Al of Winter Haven, also wrote a letter to the Editor,
titled “Flee Halls of corruption” printed by the Ledger on
In response to Mr. Roy Aldrich’s letter to the Voice of
the people.
There are tears in my eyes also to think that --
1. a pastor, a “minister of God, would allow the pulpit of the church to be used by a money changer. Money-Changers were driven from the temple by Christ, according to my Bible.”
In my opinion, the two men involved that Sunday were slaughtering the lambs.
I would flee the halls of corruption never to look back, fearing that I might be turned into a pillar of salt.
The real problem with the speech in January, 1995, by Dan and Karl was it was all lies. My family and I, ignorantly sat there and believed every word that our pastor and his son told us because you can’t believe Christians, especially the Assembly of God type of lie. We didn’t flee the hall of corruption, but listened to these money-changers and their oratorical lies in the House of God.
We believed their eloquent words, felt their crocodile tears and even told our friends, who were not members of the church, that the newspaper accounts about the Straders were all lies and that they didn’t have the whole picture. The truth according to the Straders was that is was a frame up by vicious others, who wanted to get Pastor Karl Strader for who he was. [ A false prophet, a renegade and rebellious Assembly of God Pastor.]
The actual truth turned out to be that Dan’s own accountant resigned because he warned him that what he was doing was illegal and Dan promised to change which he never did. The same accountant would later testify against Dan in court.
The sour economy excuse that Karl used, both for his son’s demise and the decline in the church giving that following summer, was a typical Strader ‘catch all’ phrase, to blame circumstances for their personal failures. Karl even used this phrase in a letter to church members a few years before requesting more funds. There was no conspiracy by the State or Victory Assembly or others. Dan Strader by his own deeds and actions brought himself down.
The loudest complaint against Dan and Karl did come from Roy Aldrich, who turned Dan in to the State Attorney after he was betrayed by Karl. Roy was robbed by Dan and as a result lost his lifesaving's and had to sell his wife Patricia’s beloved Teddy Bear collection and his precious 250 engine full scale train collection just to survive, after Karl fired his wife from their only source of income.
Dan was not an entrepreneur, he was a first class con-artist
who used religious words, quoted the Bible, prayed with and preyed on his victims.
He modeled himself after his protégé and hero--his Dad, and did the things that
the Senior Pastor and the Strader family did in Carpenter’s
Both the pastor’s sons Dan and Stephen, and his son-in-law, used church vehicles, stationery, stamps and other things in Carpenter’s Home Church as though it was their sole God given right. They expressed in their real behavior and attitudes that they were special and different from others.
Stephen Strader actually said, that I was mistaken to think his father had friends among the church members, that in fact, his real friends were outside the church. Stephen later confided to a group of us in a prayer meeting that his father was away from the church that week because he had gone to visit one of his father’s friends, Jim Bakker of the PTL Scandal, an ex-felon and Assembly of God pastor.
The definition of nepotism, is the showing of favoritism to relatives. It was a key accusation brought against Karl, by his whole deacon board, in 1989. To which Karl Strader replied, that he was a servant of God and would not answer their charges. A few years later, this display of arrogance was an attitude, that Dan would also display at his own trial. Dan, like his father in 1989, wouldn’t admit to doing anything wrong.
The Straders were never really sorry for their deeds and victims and didn’t care what became of people’s lives as a result of the crimes committed by Dan. Not a penny was given by them to Dan’s victims, except a multitude of meaningless, religious words, devoid of real love, good works, and honest acceptance of personal fault. However, they did solicit and accept money from others to defend Dan Strader.
Integrity, honesty, financial responsibility and open accountability are words that were not in Dan’s or Karl’s vocabulary; as court records, articles of incorporation, correspondences and personal behavior would later show to be true.
Pastor Karl had stated in a radio address over WCIE, that while we, as Christians, are required to tell the truth we are not to tell the whole truth because that would be gossiping. Both Dan and Karl would find Scripture verses to defend themselves and show that they were right, after all they knew better and were very important people.
T.G. of
How dare Pastor Karl Strader put the responsibility
on the media for the actions of Daniel? There was no consideration given to all
the individuals who lost money, even lifesaving's, and some their very homes.
He went on to say, King David of
The Ledger quoted Roy Aldrich’s remarks that “the use of a
pulpit for attacking individuals is absolutely reprehensible. Assembly of God
church leaders should suspend Karl Strader pending an investigation for having
his son use the church service as his forum.” Roy Aldrich also wrote a letter
on
Typically, the Assembly of God leadership in
Roy and Patricia were one of the couples among these wounded
seniors, who were also very active members of Carpenter’s
Later, we realized how we too, had been taken in and duped by the Strader clan, and that in reality, the other people weren’t evil and wicked as they were portrayed to be in our church from the pulpit. Our big regret was, how could we be so naive and easily taken in?
I guess we are all trusting sheep and we believed in our pastor, never expecting such incredible behavior among professing Christians. Is it something that all religious Christians are taught, that the Pastor is God’s man and we cannot question or say a word about him and his actions?
To this day Dan Strader thinks he is right and everyone else
is wrong. He is after all a Strader, right?
He doesn’t see as others do but only sees what wrong has been done to
him. How sincere he was in all he did--even while he robbed, raped and murdered
those around him by stealing what was never his to have, with smooth words and
using God’s Name in vain. He was a defamer and blasphemer who in Jesus’ name
did exactly what Jesus taught in His
Word not to do. His speech in Carpenter’s
Assembly of God Pastor, Karl Strader allowed the use of God’s pulpit to perpetuate Dan’s deceit and abuses and must be held accountable for many things; including propagating his son’s self-righteous attitudes, self-centerness, stupidity and ultimate sickness.
Dan was right at all costs. No matter what it cost others, he meant no harm, therefore in his mind he was not responsible for the outcome of his actions. An approach similar to the one used by Jim Bakker.
But that’s not what the Bible teaches or says. Man is enticed by his own lust and taken away to destruction. So Dan has gotten what he deserves and should remain there until he learns better. A man without mercy should be shown no mercy and is one who is devoid of God’s fruits and simply dabbles at understanding Him. Sad but true, Dan as evidenced by his fruit doesn’t know God at all.
Furthermore, doesn’t the Word say ‘touch not God’s anointed and do his Prophets no harm,’ because then God will judge us? However, aren’t we all anointed ones and prophets as well as priests and kings, when we have the Spirit of the Lord in us and on us? The real fact of the matter is, we aren’t to depend on or trust Pastors or Evangelists but only God because they are only guideposts and signs, made out of clay, to bring us to the One who created all things and not to themselves.
When we put our trust in Pastors and Evangelists rather than God and His Word we get exactly what we deserve--deceivement and abuse. We should become mature, able to discern the truth and walk independently of other influences, even when they call themselves Christian.
Well, after a five week trial in June, 1995, and mountains of evidence and testimonies from victims, it was shown that Dan Strader, could use smooth words and flattering speech to deceive the hearts of the simple, defenseless, trusting, elderly to rob them of their life’s savings, and that he was a real thief and a con-artist.
Yet, the Strader clan, who controlled Carpenter’s
The defendant’s view, as was expressed by Pastors Karl and Stephen, and reported in the Ledger went as follows:
There was a conspiracy between the Lakeland Ledger and the State Attorney’s Office abetted by allegedly dissident members of his father’s Church who broke away. Without this unproven conspiracy and persecution complex in Mr. Straders view, his company would have managed to pay all the victims.
Attorney John of Bartow said that Strader’s comments were inappropriate and “about as old as his investment strategy. Frankly, he must think his entire congregation up there is comprised of fools and buffoons to float that kind of excuse for his own criminal conduct.”
But he is a Jew who is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the Spirit, not in the letter; whose praise is not from men but from God. (Romans 2:29)
After Dan and
Karl’s speech and charade at Carpenter’s
“Dr. Lunsford and Dr. Trask should obtain a complete
transcript of Karl and Daniel Strader's extensive remarks about his version of
his financial troubles, which were made as a part of the Sunday morning service
at the Carpenter's Church on
The two newspaper articles, one of which quotes me, do not contain the nature of the personal attacks which Dan launched, stuff which never should disgrace the Cross of Christ from a pulpit.
These public pronouncements were accompanied by extensive clapping and even cheering on the part of the congregation who obviously were getting just one side of a very complicated situation, part of which the Florida State Attorney alleges involves the theft by lies and deceit of $100,000.00 of our money by Dan Strader.
You can understand that Karl Strader's use of his church in such a fashion is not fair and certainly is not Christian from the stand point of the added grief multiplied to victims like myself. Would Karl Strader give me twenty minutes to present my side?
As improbable as such an assertion may sound to the officials of the Assembly of God, we have the elements of a cult, all we do not know is how far things are going to go. The weirdness of the "manifestation" emphasis fits nicely into this scenario.
For the protection of the Gospel worldwide Karl Strader should be prevented from supplanting the Gospel with anything, especially the matter under discussion. The church should not be used to try his son's case. That is for the courts.
The church people are being turned into an excited mob by the pastor when they have no balanced information upon which to form valid judgments. They are also being exposed by Karl and Dan Strader to the idea that Dan's financial troubles are attributable to some sort of a conspiracy coming from the outside. That sort of thinking is germane to all cults.
Also, Karl Strader's assertion that "a sour economy" is the reason for his son's troubles is a false statement he has made several times. For example, our money completely disappeared in less than a month, hardly due to any discernible economic background. The pastor of a church should not prevaricate from the pulpit.
The truth which the Straders are trying to conceal by an emotional appeal to their church people is simply that Dan used a massive sea of misrepresentations, both oral and written, to obtain the major portion of the savings of older people who trusted the Strader name for various reasons, people who like us wooed never guess in a thousand years that their investment very likely was not being used as Dan stated.
Not one dime of our $100,000.00 was used for what Dan
represented as the urgent need for a "contract deposit" on a five
million dollar deal to purchase some blimp type airships from
One generic and unmistakable characteristic of all criminal mentalities surfaces: lying. Soon lies take over a person's life like a drug addiction and seemingly to a person caught in the web of deceit and being deceived, there is no reality except in the mind of the afflicted person.
Therefore it may be entirely possible that Dan may not
understand why some of his "customers" have been vocal about not
getting their money returned as Dan promised
and he may not understand why the state of
And it becomes "fun", something Dan said to me many times. Sin is fun, but only for a season. It would be a “kick to walk into an older couple's house and walk out two hours later with fifty thousands dollars by always of course, representing their investment with him as secure and paying much more than the bank, I turned Dan down for a $20,000.00 loan on the same day that he took $100,000.00 from me with the "Airship" story. Dan is good! Who but him would be able to do that, I was had by the best.
There certainly is some credibility to the assertion that we "victims" should not have loaned out significant amounts of money with no real security, but that is not how the government views it because one of their roles is protecting the public from scams-too late in our case.
Dan and I talked many times about the cross of Christ and the Atonement provided by the shed blood of Jesus, and I did express concern that the recent manifestation meetings at the church might overshadow the central Gospel message. In his public statement at a church service, he now maintains that I attribute Rodney’s stuff to the Devil, just another misrepresentation among so many.
For the record, I do regard it possible that massive appeals to the powerful and little understood subconscious mind could account for much of it and now I guess that sort of explanation sounds demonic to the sort of closed thinking I observed at the meetings. The Gospel is what is important, not whether you are prone on the floor, plastered to the walls or stuck to the ceiling.
Dan's assertion that he never intended to take anything from anybody could easily be true because in his self-generated set of rules what he was doing was not wrong in his opinion. So I feel great compassion for this man. He is entering a process where the first stages involve denial and self-justification and striking out at his tormentors like me.
He really believes that his problems are solely due to procedural errors, and that is a good thing for the present because if he felt at this time the full impact of the effect he has had on people, I doubt he could handle it.
Karl Strader, while he has done a wrong thing to let his son strike out at others as part of a church service, is a great man of God who in his grief is doing what he can for his son. My heart goes out to him. I have heard some of the derogatory remarks made about me personally by members of the Strader family.
Karl ignored me when I wrote to him about his son keeping our money, and then he fired my wife. I am not only to forgive them for the loss of $100,000.00 but also for every other thing. Why we have been chosen by Christ to suffer like this because, partially at least, we trusted the Straders is a mystery.
The real implication of all the aspects of the matter before us is that by the power of the Cross we may choose to seek life or death, and that which can save us will also destroy us if we choose death. In practical terms, death is being chosen by the Straders if they continue to attack certain investors who they perceive as causing trouble for Dan. Dan brought this trouble on himself, and any other construction is lying and therefore the death pathway.
Officials of the Assembly of God can see how dangerous
the waters are through which Karl Strader
is navigating as one views this situation even in the most superficial manner.
He should be somehow brought in check, and if the contents of Dan Strader's
"sermon" at the Carpenter's Church are examined, you will most
certainly agree. We do not need another
Dan's assertion in his "sermon" do indicate some concern for his "investors," but there cannot be one shred of actual repentance in his life as he in the same talk from his father's pulpit blames others for everything but what he calls procedural or detail misjudgments.
But at the present time Karl is motivating his flock to become zealots for Dan which exceeds propriety and will harm further many others, including, I believe, Dan who should simmer down and face what lies ahead without whining.
Of course, the General Superintendent of the Assembly of God didn’t respond to Roy Aldrich in his hour of need and hurt. I was to find out later, that the Assembly of God, not like other denominations, was a ministerial fellowship formed around ministers with the common Pentecostal experience and the little ordinary guy was not considered important and were repeatedly ignored.
The District Superintendent wrote
a response to
I was later to write a letter to Evangelist Rodney Howard Browne and General Superintendent Thomas E. Trask as well as others, about their friend and confrere, Karl Strader concerning Roy Aldrich’s problem and the Strader Affair. Of course, since I was not a prominent minister, evangelist or someone of importance in their eyes, they never bothered to answer my letters and totally ignored me.
Mind you I shouldn’t be surprised at this because Jesus Himself told a parable of a certain man who went down from Jerusalem, which was a center of worship, to Jericho, and fell among thieves, who stripped him of his clothing, wounded him, and left leaving him half dead. A certain nameless priest came down that road and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side. Likewise, a certain nameless Levite, when he arrived at the place, came and looked, and passed by on the other side.
Again, a certain nameless Samaritan, as he journeyed, came to where he was saw the wounded man and had compassion on him. He went and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine and he set him on his own animal, brought him to an inn, and took care of him. The next day, when he was leaving he took out some money and gave it to the innkeeper and told him to take care of him and whatever more he spend, when he came again, he would repay him.
Then, Jesus asked a question of the religionists of that day saying:
"So which of these three do you think was neighbor to him who fell among the thieves?" And he said, "He who showed mercy on him." Then Jesus said to him, "Go and do likewise." (Luke 10:36-37)
The Ledger and the Tampa Tribune became the good Samaritans and helped Roy Aldrich when no one else wanted to hear about his troubles with religionists. So now I wrote a book and mentioned them in it, about their real deeds and ways so that others may ask them, what did these prominent religious people do to their neighbor Roy Aldrich and what was their role in the Strader Affair?
Anyone who has rejected Moses' law dies without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. (Hebrews 10:28)
Judge Doyel at the sentencing of Dan Strader read portions of impact statements from 22 victims who lost all or most of their life’s savings. They had filled out these statements as part of a pre-sentence investigation of Dan Strader. While Judge Doyel didn’t identify the individuals and said their statements would be sealed, He became choked up while reading some of the emotional statements. Some of the victims sitting in the courtroom’s gallery were weeping openly.
On
“The psychological and financial devastation wreaked by this defendant is enormous. A review of some of the victim impact statements show the extent of their injuries.
· My reaction to this atrocity is devastating. My husband died believing that the money.... he left invested with Dan Strader... had left me financially able to take care of myself....for the rest of my life...I am now emotionally and financially ruined. I am living on my Social Security and had to go out and find a job and return to work at the age of 70 years.
· I have no one to help-me and no money to hire help like I did before...we can not buy the medicine that we need because of this....I would get a job if I had someone to stay with my wife...At the time this happened my wife was on a new drug for this problem and I had to quit because she or we could not afford it any longer.
· This was someone that I trusted and knew... my husband has had to try to accept he may have lost his total retirement. This was all the money we had left.
· This has made me depressed and I have lost trust in any one.
· I am 75 years old and will be long gone before I receive any amount that he owes me. In the mean time, I live day to day worrying about my finances.
· It has made me feel betrayed not only by the business community but also by the Christian Community in which Mr. Daniel Strader is held in such high regard.
· My wife and I had to go to work because we could not live on social security and our small retirement checks.
· Mr. Strader has preyed on the trusting, the needy, the vulnerable and elderly. We were gullible to trust his suave line of lies and deceptive innuendoes. His deceit and cunning were well planned and he exploited us without human conscience. [like Father like son.]
Although, these statements show some of the devastation wrought by Daniel Strader, they don’t reflect the views of all the victims. Many victims are terribly embarrassed by being taken in by him. Others contend they suffered physical symptoms as a result of the fraud perpetrated on them by the defendant. Many of the victims want only to receive their money. [An impossible dream under the circumstance.]
There are many people who never will accept the truth of this case. There are other victims besides “investors.” Daniel Strader’s children were innocent by any calculation. Likewise, an entire congregation has been damaged by their association with this man. But all this suffering is the result, not of victim greed or the criminal system or the press, but the wrongdoing of no one other than the defendant.”
On
· He (Dan Strader) took money under the guise of investments in land, discount mortgages and others investments, but jurors concluded it was all an illusion.
· In interviews with several of the victims, one thing became clear: They all trusted the pastor’s son. “He’d stand here and tell you that, ‘I wouldn’t cheat you,’ that, ‘I’m a minister’s son,’” said Virginia Wheeler who turned 79 last month.
· He talked like he was a real religious person, You’d expect that of the son of a pastor.
· The effect that Dan Strader’s crime against me and my wife and I has been one of complete devastation:...make no mistake. Strader is nothing more than an unfeeling animal without conscience.”
In my research on the Straders, I read in “The Ledger” of a disabled Vietnam war veteran, Michael, who was unable to work, had cried bitterly at Dan’s trial and died a few months after Dan Strader’s sentencing.
Michael told of how he bought his home from Dan’s company. How Dan sold him the home as a licensed real estate agent, which Dan never was, and in reality was licensed only to sell insurance. How Dan Strader, held the mortgage on Michael’s home, used it as collateral to borrow money a few times without his knowledge or approval. When Dan got into trouble because of his crooked and dishonest practices, Michael lost his home and died devastated.
Another gentleman and member of Carpenter’s
What was also disturbing to me was that there were many
pastors who were once associated with Carpenter’s
In reality, Pastor Karl Strader was an evil and wicked man, who brought on himself the suffering for his deeds and ways, and was a con-artist just like his son.
Without digging to deeply into all the details, because it
was very upsetting to me, I found many others who had similar horror stories of
what Dan did to them, as well as others who told of what Pastor Karl did to
them. Like father, like son! The Straders were allowed to freely speak out from
their pulpits and even jail cell; but others in Carpenter’s
I also wondered many times, how a man like Karl, who was supposed to be a great minister and a man of God, who preached the truth from the Word of God, could say his son loved the Lord, was seeking God and was innocent. When all the actual mountain of evidence spoke to the contrary. The facts speak for themselves. What made him so special that he could dictate to the authorities and others what was right judgment concerning his son? He who could not face the truth!
The answer that came to me was that Karl, like his son, had
real problems in his life and was deceived into thinking things about himself,
his family and ministry that were not true. How a man who couldn’t see or tell
the truth about his own son, could be an Assembly of God Pastor at Carpenter’s
"For false christs and false prophets will rise and show great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect. (Matthew 24:24)
Apostle Paul talked about being deceived and stated:
For those who are such do not serve our Lord Jesus Christ, but their own belly, and by smooth words and flattering speech deceive the hearts of the simple. (Romans 16:18)
Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the
Others had stated:
“Mr. Strader has preyed on the trusting, the needy, the vulnerable and elderly. We were gullible to trust his suave line of lies and deceptive innuendoes. His deceit and cunning were well planned and he exploited us without human conscience.”
When I read these lines, knowing what I now knew about how Pastor Karl with his accounting friend, changed the Articles of Incorporation, the bylaws and the Policy manual of Carpenter’s Home Church to suit himself and his family in 1989, I was sure that the people were speaking about Pastor Karl of Carpenter’s Home Church of Lakeland, Florida and not of Dan Strader.
Slowly, it dawned on me, I too was a real victim as many others were because I had placed my trust in Karl, the so-called man of God. I had also trusted in the integrity and honesty of the Assembly of God denomination. Just as another real victim and former friend, Roy Aldrich wrote to Karl, his pastor and said:
“As you continue to rule, you bring your family closer to the disaster you have inflicted on so many whose only crime, like ours, was trusting you.”
All we did was to sincerely and naively attend Carpenter’s
As a father and a conservative religious person, just like it would have been for Daniel in the Bible, I saw wrong was wrong, and sin was sin, no matter who did it, including our own children. The Strader clan, as a whole, had to be dealt with accordingly, seeing they refused to acknowledge that deep wrong had been done, or see how their behavior of using others and robbing them was wrong, even though they did it in great sincerity. They have always felt, that if they were sincere about it, their sins were not held to their account. Some where in their teaching is deeply faulty thinking. Someone forgot to check on what the Holy Spirit had to say on the subject.
"Take heed to yourselves. If your brother sins against you, rebuke him; and if he repents, forgive him. (Luke 17:3)
"And if he sins against you seven times in a day, and seven times in a day returns to you, saying, 'I repent,' you shall forgive him." (Luke 17:4)
Unfortunately, there was never a deep repentance, that is, turning away from harmful behavior, on the part of Karl or Dan Strader to warrant forgiveness from God or man.
On
“Are they two fallen angels or just the 1995 incarnation of Hatfields and McCoys. These two unlikely rivals now find themselves in the same deep straits. Alice Faye Redd and Daniel David Strader. Their roots nourished by the same deep faith. Their past are muddled in the same murky waters.”
“They were power brokers on opposite sides of a bitter
feud that left a prominent church reeling. And now Strader and Redd two deeply
religious once upstanding members of
Then, I saw there was a cancerous evil teaching within the Assembly of God denomination, now evident in other denominations, which produced Jimmy Bakker, Richard Dortch, Jimmy Swaggart, the Redds and the Straders.
These so called men of God used their positions of trust, of being ‘the anointed ones’ whom others were not to touch, to take advantage of others both financially and spiritually. Ironically, no one had ever taken a closer look at the organization or corporation that supported them or allowed them to operate ‘The Assemblies of God.’
But he, wanting to justify himself, said to Jesus,
"And who is my neighbor?" Then Jesus answered and said: "A
certain man went down from
Roy and Patrica Aldrich were school teachers who loved children very much. They weren’t rich and famous and not young anymore. They had devoted their entire lives to helping and teaching children.
I was later to observe how
Patricia was a school teacher with over 20 years of teaching
experience, when Pastor Karl Strader, in the Spring of 1987, called her and
asked if she would come to work for him in a full time volunteer capacity. Pat
and Roy loved and respected Karl’s ministry and wanted to be a part of
Carpenter's
Patricia worked for Pastor Karl as a “Ghost writer,” composing letters to members of the congregation and many others around the world, to which the senior Pastor often only signed his name. He obviously, trusted her skill and character because he rarely questioned what she wrote on his behalf.
Patricia also supervised the twenty-four hour
Out of love and respect for his senior pastor,
When problems arose in the church, in 1989, Roy and Patricia wrote a letter making over two thousand people aware that their beloved Pastor’s ministry was at stake. As a result of this letter they mobilized many of those who didn’t go to church business meetings, and they became supporters of Karl without knowing all the facts, and in consequence the vote went in his favor. Karl Strader could state that the Aldrich letter saved his ministry.
When the 1989, church split, caused problems for
The following letter was not the first letter that
Dear Pastor Strader:
You should be informed that Danny, with whom I meet now and then, read the letter that I submitted to you on ticket sales with the only and express purpose of determining if it sounded like my comments came from a hostile context.
He said that although my thoughts were strongly stated, he did not object to the spirit with which I wrote, and so I asked him to drop it off to you.
I respect his opinion to the extent that had he objected to my tone, I would definitely have either rewritten it or not submitted it at all.
I do not envy you getting so many unsolicited opinions from so many sources from folks who hopefully are striving, along with you, for a sense of direction for our church.
I personally shrink back from stepping forward against what is obviously established practice at the church. That action takes me out of my comfort zone and into a position that often times is fueled by ego and not God.
There are some among us, including me, who have definitive answers on matters of many opinions - concepts that are not specifically defined in Scripture.
I know that you want what is best for our church and I am thankful that you are
open to my ideas along that line.
In Christ, Roy Aldrich
Dan Strader begged
Out of love, respect, friendship and trust for the Straders,
and a chance to make some profit from a
one month loan, they agreed, and on
Now it seems that in the state of
Conveniently, for these con-artists these agreements are not notarized or recorded, but the unsuspecting target of this scam accepts the word of a so-called Christian, such as a handshake or a scribbled note, like Dan did, as security. Interest is paid at first, until the scoundrel gets into trouble and then the innocent trusting Christian loses his or her money as a result.
It seems that this practice was going on in Carpenter’s Home Church when we were there, and some of the luxury cars that were on the lot belonged to those who raised capital or unsecured loans, from other unsuspecting Christians, using this method to obtain funds.
Many hurt Christians because they were Christian, wouldn’t
go to the authorities, though they were robbed, they wanted to “leave it in the
Lord’s hands.” This is a phrase often
heard in Christian circles. This was very convenient for scoundrels like Dan
Strader, until
Roy Aldrich, who could express himself extremely well when he wrote, decided to wrote a letter on February 3, 1994, to Pastor Karl Strader, where he clearly outlined the problem that they were having in getting the pastor’s son to return their funds. From then on, Dan and Karl Strader would avoid dealing or speaking to them, and turned a deaf ear to the problem.
Karl finally responded on
“In retrospect, is the worst judgment call of my life
going to be that I believed your son on
“What is God’s reaction to evil, robbery, misrepresentation, oppressing old people and murder. That’s right murder, because severe blows such as Patty and I are being dealt, can easily be mortal wounds as people are apparently shredded of their live savings and exposed to the personal trauma of not being able to recover their funds.
Dan Strader, shortly thereafter made false promises to the
Aldriches, that he would repay them, and funds would be transferred to their
account on
When it became apparent to Carpenter’s
Roy Aldrich wrote sixteen letters to his Pastor Karl Strader, between February and June, 1994, concerning what Dan Strader had done to the Aldriches and Karl Strader still maintained throughout 1994, that he was not aware what Dan had done wrong.
On
“Dan Strader deliberately destroyed the Aldriches financially by taking our $ 100,000.00 which was clearly designated for one purpose and using it for other purposes without our knowledge or permission, never realizing that such a dastardly and fraudulent act was destined to become public knowledge within just a few weeks.
This action is not the result of a “bad business deal but rather a wanton act of deception and deceit and aggression against us personally, a terrorist act which for the past months has caused us immense personal grief and consternation.
It is beyond my ability to imagine that our being in
On
“Initially we came to Lakeland because of your ministry, to put it in simple terms, and your creating a job for Patricia in order that we might feel accepted, a seed that you planted had a harvest, we feel, at the time we fought to preserve your continuance as senior pastor of our church.
When I ask you to put in a word for us with Dan, I am asking for something very effective because if one thing is true of your son, he respects you and stands in awe of you to such an extent that your word to Him is gold.
Could you be instrumental in just getting us an agreement so that in future time Patty and I would be able to count on the return of our necessary old age cushion.
We are no longer asking for our cash back immediately from Dan who appears unable to do that.”
On
“Since we live in the expectation that our money cannot possibly be entirely gone in such a short length of time, we have not taken our case to the State Attorney.
But at our age we need certain guarantees that in the future our principle is returned as promised or we will be forced to go to the State Attorney for what little protection of our interests he can provide.”
On
“It will always be amazing to many of us, the so-called “ investors” and church leaders alike, that two privileged men who claim to believe in Jesus could deliberately inflict so much suffering on mostly elderly people, like ourselves, for just about the only motivation capable of fueling such a machine-pure greed.”
On
“Joe, the promise that Gary [Pernice] has our funds intact and ready to return to us is probably another false promise like the one which appears in my documentation concerning Dan’s pledge about returning our funds by March 3rd “before 11:00 A.M.”
Now there is no reply to any of our communications from Pastor Strader or Dan, and the State Attorney has picked up on this hard nosed attitude.
How could Dan Strader, supposedly our friend, using the sense of morality we hear so much from the pulpit of the Carpenter’s home church so misuse our trust of him to take illegally our life savings from us and then not even have the courtesy to contact us in any way.”
On
“The State Attorney has told us that we were absolutely lied to about where our money went and the use of it to pay people we do not know..
When is Dan Strader going to start to tell the truth?”
On
“It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to read between the lines well enough to determine from concern expressed on the phone the centrality of our case to his [State Attorney] ability to prove fraud, the conviction of which will put Danny away for a long time.”
When Lonnie was appointed, the new principal of Evangel in
1994, Jim assured the existing staff of
On
Ironically, Lonnie, as the new Principal of the school was
terminated in November, 1995 because he too didn’t fit the profile of the
decision makers and executors of CHC Inc.--namely Karl Strader and the
Secretary-Treasurer, Jim. He was replaced by the associate pastor was appointed
to become the new principal of
Ironically, the former Principal of Evangel School, Dave,
wrote a recommendation for Patricia, on
“She has exceptional writing and journalistic skills, takes directions well and follows through on every assignment. She is personable, highly intelligent, and of impeccable integrity and character.”
This recommendation
was noted by others and Patricia found work as a school teacher in
Well, on
“We think that you might find our testimony against Dan Strader scheduled for next Monday A.M. interesting for two reasons:
1) Unlike many of the other investors our $100,000 loan
completely disappeared in just one month from
2) My wife Patricia, taught in the Carpenter’s
Also during the time frame being investigated by the trial, Dan made substantial monetary contributions to his father’s church with what quite possibly will be proven to be largely stolen money bilked from the numerous victims.
The church will not reveal the amounts received from Dan Strader since 1989, the approximate beginning time of the alleged scam. [Also the time when Karl Strader rewrote the Articles of Incorporation of Carpenters Home church Inc., and made himself the sole executive and boss.]
The amount of Pastor Strader’s salary has always been a closely held secret, and that fact may explain why the church will not be forthcoming with any help for state investigators and why Straders are so arrogant toward the media and are so contemptuous about ‘government in the sunshine.’”
However, the Aldriches would continue to be ignored and rebuffed by their Senior Pastor and former friend, who not only refused to see them, but he had Joe fire Patricia from Evangel Christian school where she worked at the church.
The Straders would also spread lies about the Aldriches which many, including my family and I, believed when we first attended CHC. It was very sad and hurtful the way they were treated by others in the Assembly of God because of the actions of Pastor Karl Strader, who was defending his son and himself from what had happened and what was being written in the newspapers.
What also amazed me is that Pastor Karl Strader and others in CHC received these letters from Roy, which they never directly acknowledged, although Karl used his right hand man, Brother Joe to deal with and speak to Roy, yet they still maintained that his son Dan and did nothing wrong.
The $100,000 dollars that Dan Strader had stolen from the Aldriches was their life’s savings for retirement and they were deeply hurt. Not only did they lose their nest egg for their old age they lost their steady source of income.
"Now by chance a certain priest came down that road. And when he saw him, he passed by on the other side. "Likewise a Levite, when he arrived at the place, came and looked, and passed by on the other side.
"But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was. And when he saw him, he had compassion. "So he went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine; and he set him on his own animal, brought him to an inn, and took care of him. (Luke 10:31-34)
Roy Aldrich
wrote many more letters to the Assembly of God district office as well as to
the headquarters in
Dear Mr. Aldrich,
I am responding to your letter with some fear and
reluctance. The fear is that anything I
say could wind up in the Lakeland
Ledger. I have thus far remained
clear of the
fray and have
refused to comment to the media
on any of the matters-pertaining to the Lakeland scandals. [ AG Scandals not
First, I want you to know that I do have compassion and concern for you dear people who have lost so much in these events. I pray for you that God will help you recover from your great loss. I am so sorry that these tragedies have occurred and that you have been personally affected.
I also have another concern, that these published
statements can do great harm to the
I regret that unwise statements have been made both in the pulpit and to the media. To this point the investments have not been connected to the church in any way other than relationship to the church and the pastor.
Your statement to the Ledger that the Assemblies of God should do something regarding the matter indicates that you are not thinking clearly on the matter. I have not yet discovered anything in these events that could be chargeable on the part of any credentialed minister who is indirectly involved. What charges can be brought for unwise public statements in a land that prides itself in "free speech?"
Please be assured of my love and concern for you and all parties who are hurting deeply because of unwise and unfortunate events that have brought us to this moment.
In His Service,
Don Lunsford
District Superintendent
Amazing that the Pastors at CHC and the District Superintendent of the Assembly of God were more concerned the Aldriches had gone to the media rather than what so-called Christians did to them.
The words and fears that Don Lunsford expressed were also to me quite unbelievable and have made me quite upset, every time I read his letter at the apparent hypocrisy and empty meaningless words devoid of genuine love, concern, truth and action.
Then the Assemblies of God wonder why the media and others were upset at them. It was obvious to me that the prominent ones in the Strader Affair did not have favor, grace, wisdom, discretion and discernment from God to deal with the obvious wrongs and injustices and it showed in their words, deeds and actions.
On
“Truth, honesty and integrity will be restored to the great church on the lake.
Leadership including the district officials are been given time to disassociate themselves from iniquity and if they do not then their portion must be with those who will be made an open spectacle by the God of the Bible.
Pastor Strader did another dramatic performance asking his people to join him “arm in arm” in relation to his son. He is lying by leaving the clear implication that his family and friends are receiving religious persecution.
Are you men of the district really completely impotent to make this man use his pulpit for the purposes intended?”
Roy, who always loved to talk about the Cross and what Jesus had achieved there, was referring almost prophetically to what Apostle Paul said and what would happen to the Straders.
And you, being dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He has made alive together with Him, having forgiven you all trespasses, having wiped out the handwriting of requirements that was against us, which was contrary to us. And He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross. Having disarmed principalities and powers, He made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them in it. (Colossians 2:13-15)
Although, I had never met the Aldriches before their
unsolicited letter of November, 1995, Patricia and Roy had been quoted about 35
times in the local
Dear Mr. Kambulow,
You and I have never met before but I dropped off a four
page letter to Jack Collins that I had written concerning the firing by
Carpenter’s
I was also disappointed to learn how Jack and Betty and Cindy were also fired by Joe the Secretary-Treasurer and Karl Strader after many years of service with the church. He was a good man and with his wife devoted all their energy to the church.
I read the letters that you had left at Jack’s home and was encouraged to see that finally someone saw the light. I am glad to see that you have written a book about all of this. The secret high salaries and special benefits of Joe the Secretary-Treasurer and Karl Strader have been of concern to me for a number of years. To my recollection, it was at least $150,000 each a couple of years ago. As you might be aware the church has dropped the pension funds plan for its employees but I am sure that Karl and Jack have a pension plan paid by the church even today.
I have also expressed some grave reservations about charging set ticket prices for the gospel in the form of mandatory prices of entering God’s building for concerts as much as $25.00. I was also told by someone that they do not pay tax on these concerts as it is done through WCIE rather than Carpenter’s Home Church Inc. It is surprising that the IRS has not got wind of it.
These leaders of the church decided long ago to emphasize what CHC could do to serve them rather than what they could do to serve the church and its members. More perversely the leaders consider that the people they banish and fire at will, with out cause, are cursed of God anyway. It does not matter to many, how much grief Karl and Joe have caused to others in order to achieve the position of power they now abuse so freely.
In 1989 my wife and I wrote a letter which we distributed to 2,400 homes supporting the continuance of Strader’s ministry when he was under fire before the split. Karl credited our efforts at the time with being very influential in saving his ministry an act which we came to regret. Patricia did far more for the church and Evangel than teaching like many others, including ghost writing letters for the Straders.
When it became apparent that Dan [ pastor Karl Strader’s
son] had stolen our money Karl who was always nice previously did not meet with
us but got his right hand man his henchman to fire my wife who was an employee
of
Regards,
Roy Aldrich
So I wrote to my newly discovered friends in Christ who had suffered so much in the Strader Affair and were faithful and true having never given up.
Dear Friends,
I received your letter dated
Because God is still God, because the Holy Spirit is
still moving today, I anticipate for you, in the now of our life and existence
what He has promised in His Word in, “I will make you inhabited as in former
times, and do better for you than at your beginnings. Then you shall know that
I am the LORD” (Ezekiel 36:11); and,
I will prepare a lamp for My Anointed.
His enemies I will clothe with shame, but upon Himself His crown shall
flourish. (Psalm 132:17-18)
So keep your courage and spirits high for your reward in heaven and even on earth will be great. “Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you. (Matthew 5:12) Therefore do not cast away your confidence, which has great reward for you have need of endurance, so that after you have done the will of God, you may receive the reward. (Hebrews 10:35-36)
Roy and Patricia Aldrich did not find true Christianity in
their pastor or their Church, Carpenter’s
"You are of your father the devil, and the desires of your
father you want to do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand
in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks
from his own resources, for he is a liar and the father of it. "But
because I tell the truth, you do not believe Me. JOHN
True Christianity is found in the simple story that Jesus told and in those who do what Jesus told them to do:
"A certain man went down from
"Now
by chance a certain priest came down that road. And when he saw him, he passed
by on the other side. "Likewise a Levite, when he arrived at the place,
came and looked, and passed by on the other side.
"But a certain Samaritan, as he
journeyed, came where he was. And when he saw him, he had compassion. "So
he went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine; and he set him
on his own animal, brought him to an inn, and took care of him.
"On
the next day, when he departed, he took out two denarii, gave them to the
innkeeper, and said to him, 'Take care of him; and whatever more you spend,
when I come again, I will repay you.'
"So
which of these three do you think was neighbor to him who fell among the
thieves?"
And he said, "He who showed mercy on him." Then Jesus said to him, "Go and do likewise." Luke 10:25-37
It’s doers of the word who are true Christians not the talker especially if they are pastors. We are to look at their deeds and not just their words; being a Good Samaritan is what true Christianity is all about. It's obvious to many that many so called Christians and their pastors don't have it. They are not compassionate giving truthful or honest. They all claim to be Christians while ignoring what apostle Paul clearly told them:
Let all bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, and evil speaking be put away from you, with all malice. And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, just as God in Christ forgave you. Ephesians 4:31-32
Therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, put on tender mercies, kindness, humility, meekness, longsuffering; bearing with one another, and forgiving one another, if anyone has a complaint against another; even as Christ forgave you, so you also must do. But above all these things put on love, which is the bond of perfection. Colossians 3:12-14
O LORD my God, if I have done this: if there is iniquity in my hands, if I have repaid evil to him who was at peace with me, or have plundered my enemy without cause, let the enemy pursue me and overtake me; yes, let him trample my life to the earth, and lay my honor in the dust. Selah (Psalms 7:3-5)
Believe it or not Pastor Karl Strader actually preached on Psalms chapter seven and made it his prayer one Sunday morning when we were there. He actually mouthed the foolish words and asked God to do it to him if he did evil to others. Well, God heard and answered His prayer and his honor was laid in the dust by enemies, Roy and Walter.
Early 1989, Roy Aldrich wrote many letters both to Karl
Strader and the dissidents including brother Jim. It was very interesting to
examine what
That is how most of us are when it doesn’t touch us, we
aren’t bothered about a problem until it touches us directly. So
These are traditionalists whose warfare is not only against Pastor Strader but also against the entire charismatic movement, and if they succeed here, there could be an adverse ripple effect around the world because of the special nature of this church.
We need to stand and fight, not to preserve our position, but to keep the faith and the ministry going. The real casualty here will be worship and spiritual warfare this is the target of the demon world and Satan.
Is it possible that we should abbreviate the Easter program or change its complexion in order to preserve our energy for the continuing storm?
It has been my opinion all along that the enemy's strategy is a war of attrition, not an attempted knockout punch, and that is why no charges have been filed. A frontal attack against you would miserably fail.
If you, indeed, do call for a vote of confidence, then let some of us mail out a letter to members which clearly delineates the issues as we see them. By naming the ten or so prominent people against you, the dissidents would be drawn out in the open where they are at a great disadvantage.
Putting this insurrection to an end is as simple as just clearly identifying bitter people and enabling all to see their objectives.
This is what they fear the most, and they now need to be drawn from seclusion without exception or else we may lose our battle by default.
Sincerely in Christ
Roy Aldrich
Roy Aldrich, like his friend Walter loved to write letters.
On
Greetings in the name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ:
As you probably already know, a very important vote concerning the status of our beloved Pastor Strader will be taken on Monday evening, March 13th, at a congregational meeting.
At that meeting there will be a vote of confidence for our pastor, and I am sure you can see the importance of attending it to make sure that your will, as it is submitted to God's will, is done.
No doubt you are familiar with the fact that there have been two previous meetings in which our church situation was discussed; however, at this one a crucial vote will be taken that will determine whether or not the vision Pastor Strader has for our church will be continued.
It is a very serious matter for any individual or group of individuals to attempt to terminate the ministry of a servant of God and, frankly, such an attempt may be made Monday night by a dissident minority who consider that their opinions should be placed above the facts as seen by a loyal majority, the staff, and the pastor.
Strong written affirmations by Uncle Shelby, Rusty Nelson, and Kevin Doddy indicate their 100% support for pastor, and other voices in support of the pastor will be heard on Monday.
Only members will have the privilege of voting at this meeting. In all fairness it should be pointed out that there will be an equal opportunity for all sides to speak under the chairmanship of a district official. [Thomas E. Trask]
Your attendance at this meeting could be the greatest contribution you are going to make in 1989 to this great church.
By responding to this call, we demonstrate our willingness to accept the responsibility as well as the rewards of our having been selected by Jesus, before the foundation of the world, for the privilege of being associated with Pastor Strader in the great mission of getting the gospel out around the world.
Concerned, loving supporters of the Strader family.
Pastor Karl Strader also enjoyed to write letters of
appreciation because on
Dear Roy and Pat:
Greetings in the Name of the Lord Jesus!
Only God knows how close the vote would have been had you folks not helped to get "the letters" out to encourage people to come last Monday night.
You are to be commended.
God bless you for wanting to see things done fairly!
Sincerely Yours in Christ
Karl D. Strader, Pastor
A year later, Roy’s Aldrich friend and beloved Pastor, Karl
Strader, wrote on
Dear Roy & Pat
Greetings in the Name of the Lord Jesus!
Thank you for your kind remarks and your input. I really appreciate the good work that you have done and are doing, Pat. I really appreciate your sweet spirit. You and Roy have been real friends.
Sincerely in Christ
CHARGES AGAINST PASTOR STRADER
We have been told that no formal charges have been filed against our pastor, so I would like to suggest that he is guilty of many things, perhaps too numerous to mention, which include the following:
1. He should be
charged with building the Carpenter's
2. He should be charged with loving all people, even his critics.
3. He should be charged with being an aggressive soul winner.
4. He should be charged with praying for the healing of bodies and spirits.
5. He should be charged with a vision for missionary efforts all around the world.
6. He should be charged with memorizing Scripture and becoming a master preacher.
7. He should be charged With spreading the Gospel around the world by radio and television.
8. He should be charged with being a strong family man.
9. He should be charged with defending his wife.
10. He should be charged with deliverance’s made through Spiritual Warfare Ministries.
11. He should be charged with supporting our Easter and Christmas programs.
12 He should be charged with teaching the fullness of the Holy Spirit.
13. He should be charged with praying in the Spirit everyday.
14. He should be charged with creating a good working atmosphere for the staff.
15. He should be charged with getting the finest guest speakers for Our church.
16. He should be charged with opposing the works of the devil.
17. He should be charged with asking forgiveness for his mistakes.
The above list of charges implies that Pastor Strader is guilty and should spent the next ten years or so at hard labor working as the God’s placed leader of the Carpenter's Home Church.
Sincerely in Christ,
Roy Aldrich
Later, Roy was to write one of his best letters which I consider a classic to Karl Strader in January, 1995 in regard to his Sunday sermons on ‘Enemies’ which included the following remarks:
I would like to join the ranks of those who Karl Straders counts as his “enemies.” by the following statements:
1) I am the enemy of lying and deception which hurts and robs people.
2) I am the enemy of those who practice cruelty in the administration of any corporation, especially churches.
3) I am the enemy of any minister who allows the use of his pulpit for personal vendettas.
4) I am the enemy of any minister who uses his pulpit for soliciting public and personal sympathy over controversial matters involving his family.
5) I am the enemy of every minister in the world whose sense of right and wrong is based on nepotism and favoritism.
6) I am the enemy of the policy of Karl Strader who raised $52,000.00 for Dan’s defense fund and $58,000.00 for repairing a roof and not one dime for his son’s elderly and devastated victims.
7) I am the enemy of the disrespect represented in the Strader attitude towards the State Attorney and Judge Robert Doyel, a true servant of God.
8) I am the enemy of the policies of secret salaries which conceal huge benefits flowing from trusting church members to their leaders- salaries which provide sumptuous life styles, while at the same time, these same leaders are firing and traumatizing the “little people” under their care like Cindy Deaton, Patricia Aldrich, Jack and Betty Collins.
9) I am the enemy of huge personal gain to Karl Strader and Joe Perez derived from their secret management fees from the CHC Life Center Retirement Estates.
10) I am the enemy of the thinking that some claimed “anointing” or supposed special privilege with God gives anyone the right to turn a Christian church into their own personal “cash-cow.”
11) I am the enemy of the thinking expressed in the attached sermon outline which implies that the welfare of CHC is determined by any one man or family. We are supposed to worship Christ, and not the Straders.
12) I am the enemy of any minister who uses his oratorical ability to rally church audiences into cheerleading and other emotional excess as a device to shore up a crumbling personal empire.
13) I am an enemy of any organization that suggests opposing the leader’s lifestyle and words is opposing God.
For a bishop must be blameless, as a steward of God, not self-willed, not quick-tempered, not given to wine, not violent, not greedy for money, but hospitable, a lover of what is good, sober-minded, just, holy, self-controlled, holding fast the faithful word as he has been taught, that he may be able, by sound doctrine, both to exhort and convict those who contradict.
For there are many insubordinate, both idle talkers and deceivers, especially those of the circumcision, whose mouths must be stopped, who subvert whole households, teaching things which they ought not, for the sake of dishonest gain. (Titus 1:7-11)
The word ‘Pastor’ is a King James invention. The New Testament doesn’t talk about Pastors as we know them today. However, the Word of God speaks of bishops and that a bishop must be blameless, as a steward of God, not greedy for money, but a lover of what is good, and that includes justice, virtue and truth. I believe that this also applies to Pastor Karl Strader.
Stephen Strader asked me once, “What Bible was I reading,” because he didn’t understand what I was saying. Maybe I should ask the same question of the Straders, “What Bible were they reading,” while all those evil and funny things were going on in CHC.
The following letter was written by my wife, Sandy concerning the Bishop of CHC, Senior Pastor Karl:
After reviewing some of the damaging evidence against Daniel
Strader in the articles that were printed in The Ledger (
1. I find that both Karl and Daniel are self-deceived, self-serving, dishonest, discompassionate and underhanded. Basically, they are “con-artists!” The outward appearance they portray is one of honesty, love, respect, and an air of success, while they are truly in the Biblical sense “Wolves” in sheep’s clothing. They, I repeat They Are Not—Sheep! Pretending, to be a sheep or a shepherd doesn’t make it true! Seriously speaking, there is nowhere in the New Testament that speaks of pastors or their importance. The only good pastor is a Spirit-filled pastor who has put his respectability aside for the greater good. I have a lot of experience with family members who say they love me, while they use many words to express how wonderful they are and act in a self-serving manner.
2. The spiritual atmosphere in the church when I began to visit in October, 1994, was cold, distant, sprinkled with a few spiritual gifts offered by others, not the Straders, and filled with gossip and a sense that under the surface was a lot of hurt in many of the people.
After several months at the church, I observed that the leadership was cold, indifferent to the sheep’s individual needs and upon meeting one or two of them, I noticed how they lacked genuine concern for others and were very self-important.
This denotes a definite lack of love and humility, which the Bible clearly states we must have both for the brethren and the heathen. Some of the gifts of the Holy Spirit were in operation, but only in prophets, and “healers” outside the “main” leadership.
The Holy Spirit was present at the front podium due to the anointing on the singers, not the pastors, as I realized later. Everything was extremely controlled. Only prophecies acceptable to the leaders where allowed to be spoken. It was obvious the Holy Spirit was not really in control of the services as it was purported He was.
I simply observed how Karl himself, never turned to people or seemed genuinely happy to see them. This was true even of his leadership and his behavior toward them. His smile appeared artificial. It seemed unusual for a man in Christian leadership for so long.
Later, I would learn my inner sense on the matter was right. It was not that he didn’t know people but that he chose to ignore them. He was more important than they. Jesus, didn’t ignore his disciples, he walked with them, talked, ate, and slept with them. He lived with and loved them on their level. He showed them his compassion and love even when he knew they could so easily betray Him.
True love is loving the unlovely. It is supernatural. Something alien to Karl Strader. He chose to ignore people. Both his leadership and his congregation of long standing, followed his poor example of love and caring of the sheep.
No one invited us to join them or showed interest in our family. If we didn’t “join” the programs we were ignored. All contact with the church and its members were superficial and brief. A hand-shake when you entered the church, an occasional smile, and a lot of criticism behind your back.
Also, his sermons were devoid of the Holy Spirit. Oh, yes they were interesting at times. He tells his stories well. But, something deeper and more important was very much missing. He used the Word of God without seeming to understand the deeper truths behind the words. He spoke too much of us changing our character and behavior, very little of how the Holy Spirit can do it far better if we simple invite Him to.
Something I’ve come to realize he doesn’t understand. He became repetitive and dull. Not really showing much depth. (By depth I mean, having such a relationship with the Holy Spirit that you get fresh manna from heaven for each new sermon and the prophecy and direction all fit together in the service to further the Kingdom of heaven and benefit the people. Heaven is moving and flowing freely in the service and everyone knows it. In order to accomplish this the pastor must be very close to the Lord.)
The whole point of the exercise of coming to Florida, for my
family and I was to find a church full of the Holy Spirit, where we could give
and take in true Christian love and giving, and minister as God called us. We
were duped into believing this was Carpenter’s
It was an illusion and a lie. Carpenter’s
Later, I would realize, this attitude of lack of caring was an outward expression of a deeply embedded inward problem. Problems of true honesty before God and man, self-deception that Karl Strader and his family felt they were: right, acceptable in behavior, true to the Word of God, selfless, loving and truly honest in their dealings with others.
I hate to say, the entire family, is delusional, self-deceived and totally dishonest and disrespectful to others. The heart is desperately wicked, who can know it, the Bible tells us.
5. The facts of Karl and his family’s behavior speak for themselves.
a. Karl doesn’t genuinely love people. He doesn’t love justice in God’s terms. When one of my family members were wrong, I told them so. I didn’t cover it up, pretended they were spiritual or protect them. Wrong is wrong! He chooses to ignore wrong and sugar coat his children’s behavior. The children of Eli in the Old Testament didn’t get away with this why should his?! For that matter neither did Eli!
b. They believe they have a special dispensation from God and are above other people because they are so important to Him and His service. They consider themselves indispensable to God, in itself a delusion! The Bible is clear, God is no respecter of persons.
c. They must not be judged by man because they are about God’s business and are above the men around them. They should be treated with great deference and respect no matter what they do. It can’t be wrong they did it sincerely. Sincerely robbing people and calling wrong—acceptable, is in itself deeply wrong—wrong before God and wrong before man!
6. Due to their attitude of self-righteousness, a need for respectability at all costs, and love of power and money, the following atrocities toward mankind was committed by them:
Karl didn’t heed the warning of the people demanding true Christian behavior from the Straders and accountability to the church body, in a meeting held to clear the air between the congregation of true believers and the Strader clan.
Karl wrote up a dictatorial policy demanding people behave as he wanted them to or leave the church “quietly” in his own words. As he was the Christ and had all the answers. Sound’s delusional? It is! In my entire life I have never seen such an un-democratic, un-spiritual, un-loving, un-professional and un-Christian document.
I personally read the sixty-six resolutions the congregation were bringing forward to Karl, demanding he and his family change their behavior and attitude to the congregation and certain prophetic and other practices. He chose to ignore them and cut them out of the body. He chose to place himself above the sheep.
Does this sound like a loving shepherd or a cold hearted wolf. Why is it he alone has power over the governing of the church, its policies, attitudes to sheep and control of the finances. Is it perhaps because of his “love of money?”
This entire attitude on the part of the father, opened the way for the delusions and practices of Dan to begin his “business practices” of taking money from one person to pay off his personal debts or investors. Where he promised them their money would go, was not what truly happened to the funds.
Even in simple insurance transactions he stole money entrusted to him, to pay people’s insurance premiums, by endorsing the checks and keeping the money for personal use. Insurance companies began to complain they were not receiving their clients premiums and it came back to Daniel.
He was entrusted with a sacred trust—to deal honestly—there is no “mistakes” when one is honest! If one willfully robs one person to give to another, this is thievery, no question about it! It is blatant robbery. He also had his father’s arrogance and pride that he is right and above the law of God and man.
Upon digging a little deeper, you begin to realize that Karl has been practicing the very thing his son was doing with his insurance clients and investors. Karl has been taking people’s tithes, given to the Lord’s service, and properly designated to certain ministries and specific purposes, and placed them where he wanted them, not where they were designated to go.
In so doing, he aroused God’s attention and anger when he began to manipulate and remove intended funds from intended service to the Lord, to cover the church’s indebtedness. This obviously doesn’t honor the Lord but only becomes “lip service,” something Karl became adept at. A pathetically poor example to his children of “mismanagement of money” and double talk, saying one thing to the congregation and doing something totally different.
Sad to me is the documented facts that came out in Daniel’s trial that he had robbed not only the investors and insurance clients, he had robbed his children and wife of peace of mind and a sense of security, because their electricity was shown to have been cut off at least fifteen times in the previous year by the electric company due to lack of payment. This is only a small sample of what went on in his practices in paying personal bills and obligations. Not very responsible or loving—even to his own family, is it?
The bottom line is, men who cannot handle their own behavior or families correctly, with good Christian order and with common respect and decency, should not be leaders of anything—let alone a large Christian church or a business!
This principle applies to all Christian leaders! We are all accountable: first to God, second to our spouses and children, and third to fellow believers and other people. We must all pay the piper! Sorry, no exceptions!
We have a firm responsibility to teach accountability to our children, both to God and man! It is irresponsible to allow a child to believe there are no consequences for our actions and all will be forgiven and covered by “God’s love.” This is only true, the Bible says, if we meet God’s conditions of holding to his truths, unwaveringly and with deep fear of what He could do if He so chose!
God is still ultimately Sovereign! He chose to allow Job to suffer though he had done nothing to deserve it! God is God! I know he is not blind to all man does. He does Judge. Jesus’ sacrifice brought judgment.
As He said to me on the subject of love, it not only means being gentle and kind, it brings accountability and judgment. If we’re not sure we’ve crossed over the line into judgment and wrong doing we need to humble ourselves before God and find out.
When Karl and Daniel were told by God they were wrong they didn’t obey His voice. Is it because they never learned to truly “listen to His still small voice and obey Him? They also thought the vessels of his warnings were unimportant and of no consequence—Christian people—not of high positions or great wealth. Simple people, whom they had learned not to respect.
They could not recognize when a man of God had been sent to them, to redirect them and give deeply important warnings. They had not true spiritual discernment. They couldn’t hear, they couldn’t see. Is this not also Biblical? God stopped men’s ears and blinded men’s eyes?
The evidence speaks for itself. A broken church, many hurt and damaged Christian lives, the theft of thousands of dollars not belonging to the Straders, be it in tithes or investments, the Gospel of Christ trampled and disgraced, control and manipulation of lives in the Name of God and without compassion. One son in prison, another sent out of the country to minister elsewhere because he is a liability due to his attitudes and behavior, and a daughter who begs other pastors to help displace her father to place her husband in her father’s pastoral position. How Christian! How loving! What a wonderful example of right Christian living! How happy I am not to follow or be fooled anymore by such a wicked example!
“You don’t understand. You don’t know anything about us.” Stephen Strader
“There was nothing that we could do about it.” Assembly of God Pastor
Now there was a widow in that city; and she came to him,
saying, 'Get justice for me from my adversary.' (Luke 18:3)
Before I got
involved, Roy Aldrich wrote numerous letters about them to the editors of the
Ledger and the Tampa Tribune, many of which were published. One of these
letters was printed in the Ledger on Saturday,
There are statements being made by officials of the Carpenter's Home church which indicate that they think that the Ledger and the State Attorney are "out to get us"
Leading religious people believing that their group is the "insiders" and legitimate arms of the government and society are the "outsiders" is exactly the same attitude promoted by David Koresh and Jim Jones, both of whom led their followers to disaster.
The fact of the matter is that Dan Strader, Karl Strader's son, took savage and selfish action against a large group of elderly people whose lives have been shattered by his alleged illegal borrowing scheme.
My wife and I lost our Life savings to Dan's false promises and all the people of Polk County can be thankful to Chuck Zeller and others of the State Attorney's office that they have someone to defend 'them and represent the public against con men and deceivers, and being a minister's son should not make a difference in the application of criminal justice.
The value of the article in the Ledger about my wife
being fired from
If love is the greatest earmark of Christians as the Bible says, then who are these people who causelessly fired Patricia when she was already suffering so greatly?
Walter Morgan of
The recent firing of Mrs. Pat Aldrich as a teacher at
Of course the fact that Pastor Karl Strader's son
"Danny" defrauded Mrs. Aldrich and her husband of $ 100,000 has
nothing to do with this dastardly deed. Baloney. If you can believe that, then
I have a piece of ocean front property I will sell you in
There is no place in the Bible that condones what I call evangelical dictatorship.
The main reason for this letter is to voice my own
opinion and also encourage all God-fearing people to wake up and try to use the
brain that he so graciously gave them, before it's too late.
Another one of
It has been reported that a number of employees at the
Carpenter's
If that is true then Joe should have fired himself for keeping twenty or thirty unnecessary employees on the payroll, because he also stated that the mass firings will not affect the services of the church.
But far more important in view of the firings is the long established policy of keeping secret the salary of the Straders who obviously enjoy security that the lesser faithful employees do not have.
Since the Carpenter's Home Church has been rocked by scandal by the minister's son, Dan Strader, bilking many elderly citizens out of their life savings, you would think that in financial matters they would be willing to at least disclose to their members as much about how much the Straders profit from the church as, for instance, the mayor of Lakeland must disclose about his salary.
A group claiming to be Christians who would rather have government in darkness than government in the sunshine are on dangerous ground. When they solicit funds things are done in the open, but much spending is behind closed doors.
Could this attitude be the psychological background behind Dan Strader's thefts and expenditures? Testimony in court revealed that most victims of .he scam were not told the truth about the use of their money and others were not told the whole truth.
If Pastor Strader is making $150,000.00 per year salary and benefits while at the same time terminating other employees who were earning near starvation wages, then that should be of interest to our community, especially since Karl Strader has publicly misstated that. his son is guilty of only minor judgmental errors and was only targeted by the State Attorney because he is a "high profile" person.
Combine secrecy about salaries in which paying church members are not entitled to details about finances with the conspiracy theory that Dan asserted in court, wherein he stated under oath that the newspapers and State Attorney are out get him and the mentality is revealed which destroyed so many people whose only crime was trusting the name of Strader.
The Word of God contains true stories about real people and what happened when they disobeyed and did their own thing. We live in a society that thinks nothing of rebellious acts never mind the consequences. We chose not to remember there is a God in Heaven and we reap what we sow, even in the now, and continue to do our own thing and lean to our own understanding!
At a Sunday morning church service in September, 1995 Pastor Karl Strader lied to his members about the Church’s financial situation. He said that the church’s finances were in great shape.
Pastor Stephen Strader, during a prayer meeting the following week, during a time of prayer and fasting, requested prayer for the church’s finances and justified his father’s statement to the group, “My father made a heavenly exaggeration.” and he said, “confidentially the church’s finances were in terrible shape.” Stephen Strader stated that “some suppliers were not paid for months and CHC didn’t have enough money to pay their huge electrical bill.”
[For the record, there was nothing heavenly about it, it was
simply a lie, and it was rather hellish rather than heavenly.] A few months later, Pastor Karl Strader also
said, in a Sunday morning service on
Ironically, while Dan Strader, was out on bail before his plea bargain, he spoke at length to the Tampa Tribune and said the following about the former days of the Church, “It was financially strapped and on the verge of defaulting on its debts.”
Daniel Strader later rejected the plea bargain of a fifteen
year sentence that he had reached with the Florida State Attorney’s office and
given forty-five years instead. Amazing to see how the father is like son and
visa versa, they both said it wasn’t their sin or deeds, but it was “The
economy that caused problems for other people and Carpenter’s
Prosecutors said Strader bilked $3.7 million by selling investments in real estate and then selling those same properties to others a few times over. Dan Strader pleaded guilty to organized fraud and securities violations.
However, to this day Pastor Karl Strader has refused to admit his guilt concerning his son’s activities or what went on in Carpenter’s Home Church; although on Sunday, January 21, 1996 Karl admitted, in his own Strader way their “liability to repay creditors.“ A few months later, their important Radio Station had to be sold to help offset these liabilities.
“In this the children of God and the children of the devil are manifest: Whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is he who does not love his brother. For this is the message that you heard from the beginning, that we should love one another.” (1 John 3:10-11)
“Now the sons of Eli were corrupt; they did not know the LORD.” (I Samuel 2:12)
On January
1995, Durden, the
When the jury, composed of a housewife, a school secretary, a motel purchasing director, a supervisor, a warehouse worker and a retiree were selected on June 14, 1995 in Bartow, thirteen other investors were dropped, because they had died or had become ill, leaving 62 investors and 250 felony charges, a reduction of 53 charges from the original 303 charges, in the fraud and racketeering trial of Strader.
Due to extensive coverage in Lakeland. Circuit Judge Robert Doyle decided in April, 1995 that Strader couldn’t get a fair trial by local jurors and ruled a jury would be selected in Kissimme.
Strader had pleaded guilty in January, 1995 to 151 charges in a plea deal that would have
given him 14 years in prison but before Dan could be sentenced, he withdrew the
plea on
“At the time he entered the plea, Strader was defiant and cocky, claiming he was another victim of the system, and ridiculing his elderly victims. Most of them are claiming to be elderly, so tell them I hope they can last 14 years.
After his arrest, Strader spent months in the Polk Country Jail until his family and friends could raise enough money to bail him out. Once free he was ordered to live with his parents.
Prosecutors, too, are confident they can prove their case.
They say there is enough evidence to convince jurors that Strader devised an elaborate scheme to attract cash in the real-estate and mortgage investments.
They feel that they can show - almost open-and shut- that Strader was selling the securities without a license and that the securities were unregistered. They feel they can prove this was done in an organized method amounting to Racketeer-Influence and Corrupt Organizations, or RICO Act.
Strader had no intention of defrauding his clients, Edmund said, and he feels he can prove it.”
Daniel Strader’s mother-in-law had to testify in his case but not appear in court because of health reasons. Her testimony was needed because some checks in the Strader case had her name on it. In addition, her husband was a partner with Strader in some businesses.
Daniel Strader was described by the prosecutor on
In addition, Strader cashed millions of dollars of investment checks at check cashing companies which charge 2 to 3 percent for their services. The testimonies of many elderly trusting victims on the witness stand would confirm this:
The dealing took place between June, 1989 and April, 1994.
Strader promised high interest payments and told investors they could get their
money back at any time with out penalty and most of his investors were
Strader’s former insurance clients. However by 1993, at the time of the revival
in Carpenter’s
Three elderly investors testified that they placed their
money with Strader because they trusted him. Dorothy Brown, 69, who attended
Carpenter’s
The Browns invested $25,000 with Daniel and the money was the last of her husband’s retirement benefits. Dorothy testified that the interest payments were always late. When the Browns decided to get their money back from her pastor’s son, Dorothy called Dan Strader to set up an appointment but he never returned her calls.
Court records show that Strader approached many of his former clients and church friends to request that Strader invest their money a fact which Strader denied.
Strader also stated if the Comptroller’s Office felt that his business [Interstate Financial Services Inc.] was not in compliance, officials should have helped him come into compliance. Instead, they targeted him as a “high profile” person whose persecution could send notice to other firms. As a result, the investigation led to investor’s panic with everyone wanting their money at the same time.
These were the same excuses that Daniel Strader gave to the
congregation at Carpenter’s
The Strader clan including Karl, Joyce, Stephen and Karla, always maintained, until the present, that they were high profile people being persecuted and that people should help them financially and otherwise.
However, the Straders in deeds and real works didn’t do anything to help, comfort, console or support any of Daniel or Karl’s victims but rather opened their wounds and poured salt on them through their critical words and statements.
What a double standard and hypocrisy for these so-called men of God who are part of the Assembly of God. Thomas Burner, a 76 year old retiree cried on the witness stand when he stated, “I thought he was a man of God. I would have given him more if I had it.”
Definitely, from my research and the material that I read, and the people who I talked to and wrote to, the “Racketeer-Influence and Corrupt Organizations act“ could be applied to the all the Straders, and even to the Assembly of God, who did nothing about the racketeering and corruption that went on in the Assembly of God for the last fifteen years, not only in Lakeland and Charlotte, South Carolina but in America.
The Tampa Tribune ran an article on
Investor
says Strader sold him on loan
Man says
Strader stressed religion
Investor says defendant claimed God approved of a $100,000 deal.
By BlLL HEERY Tribune Staff Writer
BARTOW-A man who lost a $ 100,000 investment testified Monday that his many religious conversations with fraud defendant Daniel Strader prompted his investments
Roy Aldrich, a 64- year old retired teacher, said his money was supposed to be invested for only one month in a venture featuring --a blimp like aircraft, and he expected a $ 10,000 interest return.
Several days after he gave Strader,
son of the Rev Karl Strader or Carpenter s
investor says Strader sold him on loan from Page 1
and grand theft. He is accused of
bilking 62 investors out of $ 3.7 million. Strader is charged with selling
investments in properties that didn't exist or selling the same properties over
and over in Carpenter s Crest, a
Interstate Financial Services Inc., of which Strader was president, had no legitimate income, the prosecution contends. Its only income came from investors and not from income producing properties, prosecutor Wayne Durden said at the beginning or the trial two weeks ago. Aldrich s testimony was the first mention of an investment in a venture involving a blimp like aircraft.
Aldrich said he made several
investments with Strader during a three-year period and always received his
principal and interest payments, even though they often were late. He sled he
was told the money was being invested in the purchase and resale of mortgages
through
Strader on
About 11/2 hours later, Strader returned to Aldrich's home “exuberant”, Aldrich said and said he was glad that Aldrich had not given him the $20,000. He said he had been in touch with Pernice and a very unusual deal was coming up.
Pernice and another man were negotiating for the purchase of a blimp-type aircraft for the Club Med vacation resorts, Aldrich testified. Strader said $150,000 was needed to invest, and he and Pernice would put up $25,000 each if Aldrich would put up $100,000.
The money was to be placed in an
escrow account as a contract deposit for the purchase, Aldrich said he was
told. He was told there was no way the principal could be lost. Each investor
would receive in a month, by
Aldrich testified he told Strader he would not invest unless Pernice signed the agreement, because it was his deal. Pernice's s signature was on the agreement, he said.
Defense attorney Jack Edmund stressed during cross-examination that Aldrich received money from ail his earlier investments with Strader and the only investment in which he lost money was the one Pernice was directly involved in.
The defense is trying to prove
that since Pernice’s s
Ironically, the same year of 1989 Dan’s father Karl Strader, was in trouble with the church board because his other son and son-in-law were abusing and misusing the church property to their advantage. Yet, somehow the wrong behavior of the children was not the fault of the parents. Well, this is not what the Lord said about the high priest Eli and He was judged and dealt with accordingly, and soon the same thing will happen to Karl Strader and it will not be nice.
What always amazes me is how stupid people think that we are because Dan Strader, who is a replica of his Father Karl Strader, with the same smooth talking abilities, still maintains his innocence in spite of the trial and sentencing that was reported throughout Polk county by the Tribune and Ledger. What is also amazing that many Assembly of God members read the same newspapers or chose not to and did not believe what was written.
The Ledger ran on
“Seventy-six year old Thomas Burner fought tears on the
witness stand Thursday as he told about investing his savings with
Burner testified that in 1987 he invested $25,000 with Strader, who had been his insurance agent. “He acted like my broker. When a man has prayer with you, you think you can trust him,“ Burner testified pausing to compose himself. “I thought he was a man of God, that’s why I invested with him. I’d have give him more if it had it.”
Burner said Strader gave him no documents to confirm his investment. Strader paid him interest for a few years. Burner said and let him withdraw $11,000 from his investment.
But when he asked for the return of the other $14,000 he
did not get it. Strader said it was invested in Carpenter’s
Seventy-eight year old Julia Delling, a former member of Carpenter’s Home Church, testified that Dan Strader came to her house and called frequently until she invested $60,000 with him and then she didn’t see him anymore. She received interests rates for a year and than Dan’s checks started bouncing. On the witness stand she stated “He was so nice. A gentleman. He has a nice way of talking. Beside when you hear the name Strader you trust it.”
Charlotte Kirkland, a 67 year old widow from Aubundale testified she trusted Strader completely because he told, “You don’t have a thing to worry about. I‘ll give you a my personal guarantee. Strader worked on and stole from everybody who would trust him including preachers for a retired 71 year old preacher from Tennessee testified that he told Strader when he invested his $25,000 life savings he couldn’t afford to lose it. Strader “assured me that our money was safe. If the company went bad, he would personally guarantee the principal.”
Sherry Jahoda from
Well, as the court records and media showed the personal word and guarantee of a Strader turned out to mean very little. However, there is one called Jesus Christ of Nazareth who doesn’t lie or break His Word, and He is faithful and true unlike the Straders. The Word of God states:
And you know in all your hearts and in all your souls that not one thing has failed of all the good things which the LORD your God spoke concerning you. All have come to pass for you; not one word of them has failed. (Joshua 23:14)
"God is not a man, that He should lie, nor a son of
man, that He should repent. Has He said, and will He not do? Or has He spoken,
and will He not make it good? (Numbers
As for God, His way is perfect; the word of the LORD is proven; He is a shield to all who trust in Him. (2 Samuel 22:31)
However, the performance of the Lord’s Word is also dependent on us doing our part such as walking in his statues, keeping His commandments and executing His judgments which is something that the Assembly of God members and Pastors such as the Straders didn’t do. As the Word of God states:
Concerning this temple which you are building, if you
walk in My statutes, execute My judgments, keep all My commandments, and walk
in them, then I will perform My word with you, which I spoke to your father
David. (1 Kings
Vyrad Woorard, a 64 year old
As a result, her family lost $200, 000 to this praying religionist whose father stated, “He has always loved and sought the Lord.” Well, his Lord was not the King of Kings but the mammon of unrighteousness--the love of money. Jesus Himself said:
"Therefore if you have not been faithful in the unrighteous mammon, who will commit to your trust the true riches? (Luke 16:11)
"No servant can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon." (Luke 16:13)
Strader’s attorney, in this
fraud and racketeering trial, Jack Edmund, as reported by the Ledger in an
article by Susan Barbosa of
Pruden testified that she questioned Strader abut her money and that she told him she planned to call state authorities about his business dealings.
Then Strader asked her not to file a complaint and told her “I am not that kind of person I’m a good Christian,” Pruden testified.
Edmund asked her: “You are a good Christian too, aren’t you? And you got, to some degree conned. Don’t you think Dan Strader could be conned too?
Susan Barbosa of the Ledger
wrote an article dated
“A
In fact the income-producing properties held by Interstate Financial Services were not enough to pay the mortgages, taxes and utilities on the properties Carlin said. Most disturbing Carlin said was that he saw check kiting when checks are written even though the money to cover them is not in the bank and the use of money coming from new investors to pay previous investors.
In 1992, Carlin said he told Strader that he saw the possibility that Strader would be charged with criminal fraud for the way he was conducting his business transactions. Strader told him he would clean up the business in 1993.”
Gary Pernice, a college friend of Dan Strader from Oral Roberts University and now a disbarred Atlanta lawyer, testified how he and Strader floated thousands of dollars in checks between Atlanta and Polk County banks and admitted stealing money from four Lakeland residents including Roy Aldrich because Strader told Roy that Pernice was negotiating an investment in some blimp type aircraft.
During sometimes argumentative cross-examination Judge Doyle frequently admonished Edmund not to make speeches and to give Pernice a change to answer questions. Pernice told Strader’s Defense Attorney Edmund that both he and Strader knew it was wrong to use money from one investment to pay another.
Roy Aldrich after hearing Pernice’s testimony said he was relieved to hear Pernice tell the court “that they definitely conspired to defraud me and my wife.” Outside the courtroom Roy Aldrich said to the Ledger, “They destroyed us. These are two gentlemen who represented themselves as Christians. That’s what makes it so sad.”
Charles Zeller, a State Attorney office investigator and the
prosecution’s 90th and last witness testified that Daniel Strader took in $6.23
million from investors from 1989 to 1994. The Prosecution had showed that
Strader’s Company had generated no income and used money from one investor to
pay another. A majority of the investors who testified said they knew Strader
through his insurance business or through Carpenter’s
On July 6, 1995, Daniel Strader testified in his own defense and portrayed himself and his failed business ventures as the victims of the renegade partner who also pulled dozens of elderly investors into an abyss filled with million of dollars in red ink but was not able to substantiate in court his claims with facts.
Strader testified during cross-examination by the State Prosecutors that he felt three investors were morally repugnant for bringing the case to the attention of news reporters and investigations.
Something similar to what a prominent Assembly of God Pastor said in March of 1996, at a Wednesday night evening service, in his teaching from the pulpit about that woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess, “How it was wrong to publicly expose false prophets” in reference to Pastor Karl Strader of Carpenter’s Home Church.
I wonder why this
prominent pastor made that unsubstantiated remark? Did he have something to
hide like Pastor Karl Strader?
The Tampa Tribune on
Durden then pressed Strader on what his morals were all about.
“Do you feel it was wrong to lie to people? He asked.
“Yes.”
“But you did it anyway?”
“Yes,” Strader responded. “I definitely feel I compromised on ethical and moral conduct.”
“What kind of value system do you have to enable you to lie to people?” the prosecutor pressed.
“I had a very poor value system.”
Daniel also under cross-examination not only admitted lying to his investors he testified he didn’t know it was illegal to kite checks and admitted to taking money from one investor to pay another investor. However, Strader testified that the investors weren’t investors at all rather they were lenders. He stated that his businesses were poised to emerge from the abyss when investigators and a reporter with the Ledger moved in and dealt a costly blow.
Well, the jury came in with its
verdict on
Could I say as you are finding your place this morning, that Joyce and I and our family, all of them, we want to thank you for praying for us the last few weeks. I don't know, I don't think we could have made it without your prayers. And I think it's over. The court isn't quite through yet and no matter what the verdict of the jury is, I feel in my heart it's over. I really do! But you have been so kind and our prophets and our prophetesses have been prophesying all the way along there's going to come a witness, a key witness. And thank God that witness came to us this past week.
And what man decides is not going to make any difference at least we got all the evidence in now, praise God. And all I have asked all along was a fair trial and an opportunity for my son to make proper restitution That's all I've asked from the very beginning. I don't know how that all isn't complete yet but I've sure felt your prayers. And thank you for holding steady through the storm. And I honestly believe before God no matter what the verdict is, we've won! We've won!
One of the things that's been rather amusing to me
through the last few weeks is that a certain member of my family was trusted
because his father was a prominent preacher. That makes me want to laugh
because if you take any poll conducted today, of all the career lawyers and
preachers are way down on the bottom of the list of people to be trusted.
Numbering from one to ten, attorneys and preachers are about a two or a three.
And I think rightfully so. I said. I think rightfully so because preachers
particularly here in
He has no skeletons in the closet, that's for sure. (laughter) But I do want you to know that he applied to carry papers recently with the Lakeland Ledger and they did not think that he was worthy. And the Tampa Tribune, as well. He applied both places. Now sometimes I kid but I'm not kidding now. That's the truth.
As long as we're divided, that's the reason why I got so
amused this business, well is because your father is a prominent pastor in the
community is the reason why people invested because of your father. How
ridiculous can you get. If this community in
Amazing, that Pastor Karl Strader sat through all of Dan’s
court proceedings and still said to us and his flock at Carpenter’s
"Can the blind lead the blind? Will they not both fall into the ditch?” (Luke 6:39)
There was the deliberate and
planned embezzlement of Roy Aldrich of $100,000 as Pernice testified that Dan
and he did conspire to lie about an airship project, a story full of hot air.
However, the Straders are good with hot air and words have come easily to them.
No wonder Pastor Karl Strader had
The Ledger on
Another juror Linda Detwiler said:
“But the way he answered just sort of indicated his guilt” when the jurors began deliberating they deal with one issue at a time on the 63 page verdict form: racketeering, grand theft and securities fraud. The evidence was all there she said, there wasn’t any question. The picture got clearer ever day. Mr. Strader is his own person and did what he did.”
'You shall do no injustice in judgment. You shall not be partial to the poor, nor honor the person of the mighty. In righteousness you shall judge your neighbor. (Leviticus 19:15)
"One witness shall not rise against a man concerning any iniquity or any sin that he commits; by the mouth of two or three witnesses the matter shall be established. (Deuteronomy 19:15)
Under the
The testimonies will show that while Dan stole people’s life
savings Karl stole the lives, hopes, dreams and works of people like the
Aldriches. Although, neither of them used
any physical weapons but words, real lives of ordinary trusting people
were devastated, disrupted and even destroyed in the process. Both did it for their own personal hidden
agenda and both did not get away with it. Dan is sitting in jail in Bartow and
Karl is sitting in another jail in Carpenter’s
On Saturday, May 18,
1996 The Ledger printed an article “Strader files third lawsuit from prison
cell” by Susan Barbosa to the effect that Strader was suing a state prosecutor, Alice Faye Redd, Dr. Henry Redd,
Watson Clinic, Victory AG,
One thing I have personally learned about the Assembly of God pastors, they are quick to use the words “to sue, libelous and slander.” While they themselves are not telling the truth and nothing but the whole truth, especially about the Strader Affair and suing other Christians when the Bible says we are not to do this.
Maybe they think that others are not Christian, so that they can sue or maybe the reality is people like the Straders who sue are the ones who are not Christians. It’s ironic that Dan Strader, a convicted felon, and one witness is suing the victims of the Straders’ greed and selfishness.
A) Patricia L. Aldrich made the following statement in court regarding the sentencing of Dan Strader on August 7, 1995.
“Your Honor, as a victim, I want to thank you, the State Attorney, the Jury, and the Free Press for exposing the truth of what all of us have been through at the hands of Dan Strader. I also want to thank you for this opportunity to be heard before the sentencing takes place.
In order to let you know where I am coming from, I would like to very briefly trace the background of my relationship to the Strader family and thus to Dan.
In the Spring of 1987, while I was completing my twenty-sixth
successful teaching year in a Christian school, I received a phone call from
Karl Strader asking me to come to work for him in a full time volunteer
capacity. My husband and I loved and
respected his ministry and wanted to be a part of Carpenter's
I began work there in the summer of 1987 by; composing
letters to members of the congregation and many others around the world to
which Pastor Strader signed his name because he did not have the time to answer
all of his mail. Also, I supervised the
twenty-four hour
When problems arose in the church in 1989, my husband and I wrote a letter making over two thousand people aware that Pastor Strader's ministry was at stake. Since those who wanted him out had been mobilized, and most people in a church do not like to go to church business meetings, the letter brought out his supporters and the vote went in his favor. Shortly thereafter, the Pastor and his wife invited us to breakfast in their home and declared that our letter had saved their ministry.
What does this have to do with Dan? Members of his family became close with us and one member even said that we were like members of their family.
Why then should we not trust Dan Strader?
When the split in the church caused problems for
Why then should we not expect help when our crisis with Dan arose? We went first to the Pastor and asked to meet with the elders in order to handle the problem in a Biblical manner.
What happened? We were ignored and our only means of income and insurance were cut off when I was fired. WE LOST EVERYTHING!
These people call themselves Christians! Jesus said in the Gospel of St. John 13:34-35 "A new commandment I give unto you, that ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another; By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another."
By this standard, the press, the State Attorney, and the Court are more Christ's disciples that Dan Strader or any of his family. There is no such love in the Strader family.
Throughout our suffering and the suffering of many
precious elderly people, the pride and arrogance displayed by Dan Strader and his
family have been obvious to any rational observer. The attitude of this
convicted felon is, that though he has admitted wrong doing on the witness
stand, he is above the law. He and his
family have used the pulpit of the Carpenter’s
Until Dan Strader’s monumental pride is broken and he falls at the foot of the Cross in repentance, we as victims have no grounds for trusting him to return one cent to us.
I believe that if Dan serves a VERY LONG TIME in prison, this might bring about the necessary breaking process and perhaps even Karl Strader will learn what the Bible verses that I quoted above really mean. At least our children and grandchildren might benefit from some restitution but without the breaking of this monumental pride there will be no money for anyone.”
Pastor Karl Strader wrote a letter to Roy Aldrich on
Carpenter’s
Dear Roy
Greeting in the name of the Lord Jesus!
I want to apologize for the delay in answering your
letter of February 3. Also I apologize to you that I could not talk with you
when you came over while we were having breakfast with an appointment schedule
in ten minutes.
I do not defend Danny at all for anything he may or may not have done, but I will stand with him and his family and give him moral support no matter what becomes of this.
Everyone of us who have invested in Danny’s Company or loaned him money, personally, knew from day one that Danny’s a gifted salesman, that he give us the best possible scenarios as any good salesman would do and more and we know it was high risk.
No one should be investing moneys these days at the interests he promised us without knowing there was a strong possibility of losing some moneys before it was all over.
Sincerely yours in Christ
The Ledger also printed the following:
“Aldrich said he felt the timing of His wife’s notification was “unfortunate” and related to his decision to speak publicly about his problems with Rev. Strader’s Son, Daniel D. Strader. Karl Strader said the last paragraph “has nothing to do with the situation.”
The similarity between Pastor Karl Strader’s letter of
“I have thus far remained clear of the fray. I am so sorry that these tragedies have occurred and that you have been personally affected.... Your statement to the Ledger that the Assemblies of God should do something regarding the matter indicates that you are not thinking clearly on the matter... I have not yet discovered anything in these events that could be chargeable on the part of any credentialed minister who is indirectly involved ... Please be ..... assured of my love and concern for you and all parties who are hurting deeply because of the unwise and unfortunate events that have brought us to this moment.”
Karl Strader also
didn’t take any responsibility for himself, Carpenter’s
Comparing Patricia Aldrich’s statement in court, about the
fact that Dan Strader was proven to be a con-artist, a liar and a thief; and,
Karl Strader’s letter of
·
The use by Karl of Carpenter’s
· His apology for not talking to his long time best friend, Roy Aldrich, at the breakfast table and his real delay in writing the letter.
· Karl’s request that he not be held responsible for the so-called investments with Dan, which were nothing less than embezzlements as proved by the courts. Karl as Assembly of God Pastor should have known the Bible and the requirements that a Bishop must be one “who rules his own house well, having his children in submission with all reverence” and what the Lord said to prophet Samuel about the high priest Eli “For I have told him that I will judge his house forever for the iniquity which he knows, because his sons made themselves vile, and he did not restrain them. (1 Samuel 3: 11-13)
· Calling Dan ”a gifted salesman” which he never was, on the contrary, Dan was a thief who stole his clients’ checks when he was in the insurance business, a thief when he was “check kiting“ since 1989 with other Oral Roberts graduates, a thief using Interstate Financial Services to conduct a “Ponzi Scheme” from 1989 up to the time of his trial in 1994 and a thief who modeled himself after his father.
· Karl’s stupid remarks that everybody knew that there was a strong possibility of losing some moneys when Dan made so many statements to others on the contrary that this cannot be and if it should occur, he will personal guarantee the loans and make up should there be losses, for the Strader name can be trusted. Mind you the judge would latter state that Strader cannot be trusted.
· Karl’s cold hearted complaint, that Pat was not doing enough volunteer work for the church, after his son had devastated them completely and totally financial. Why hypocrisy and careless consideration of others.
· Karl’s remark about fairness to the rest of the employees and volunteers, primarily being his family and friends. Information given by others, would show that the majority of employees earned less than $15,000 a year while Karl earned over $150,000 a year and would take time off during the week to visit his friends, like Jim Bakker, at the expense of the corporation or to go to his condominium on the ocean, while the employees and volunteers were working selfishly or were being used indiscriminately by the corporation.
·
Karl’s hypocritical remarks about his
appreciation for all that Pat has done. This remark is to be especially
evaluated in the light of the fact that Karl Strader asked Patricia to quit her
job, give up everything, sell her home and move
The real tragedy was that Patrica wasn’t the only one to be treated this way. There were others who were used, abused and discarded by Karl after years of loyal and faithful service again at a fraction of the pastor’s salary. Real people like Jim, Jack, Betty and Cindy.
So we now see that another Strader, Karl, was also being judged in the state courts in abstention for his real actions and deeds in regard to Carpenter’s Home Church Inc. using it to his advantage and that of his family and displaying no real consideration for others. Since destruction of people’s lives was not a big thing to the Corporation why should the withholding of Vacation pay or accrued time pay to departing employees make any difference to them.
If Carpenter’s Home Church was not a religious corporation, but a secular one, its chief executive and the corporation would have been justly sued and held accountable for being an irresponsible employer, for the personal use of the corporation not regarding the shareholders interests and financial irresponsibility, among other things.
After
Dear Dan
Tell what you know
Your father’s lust for power is not worth taking the fall and possibly going to Hell.
It is neither wrong or disloyal to point your finger at Karl Strader, but rather action which could save not only a major portion of your life but hundreds of people from deception.
You and I both know that you have had for years the perception that nothing much matters to your father except his position as example when he marched around the church with two security guards which were not needed except to stroke his ego.
He is willing to sell you down the river just like he did Patricia and me.
I did say to your father after the verdict, “The hidden things of darkness have come to light.”
At that time I was referring to your actions but now I believe that much is still hidden and that, at least from the spiritual point the wrong Strader is going to prison.
Dan, in the “we won!”, speech that your father delivered from the pulpit, July 9th after you had testified repeatedly to lying to investors, it should become obvious to you that your father has no real regard for you.
A man becomes a pastor in order to serve God and preach to spiritually hungry people. He believes as he speaks for God, any praise given to him is given to God and any disagreement against him is against God. He develops a God-like tone of voice and then he becomes God himself, the ultimate trick use by Satan.
This is what has happened to Karl Strader. Don’t allow him to swell you and your family shoes and all through this situation.
B) Roy Aldrich also
made the following statement in court regarding the sentencing of Dan
Strader on
On
Seven days later, on December 7, 1993, Dan wrote my wife and me a note mentioning details about our supposed business deal and attributing our investment with him as a manifestation of the "Atonement" meaning the love expressed by Christ on the cross when the loving Jesus took on Himself the sins of the world as an act of love.
We now know from bank records: that Dan’s reference to Christ was pure blasphemy against God and an act of hate because secretly by sunset of December 20, 1993, he had spent every penny of our 100,000.00 in many; directions without our knowledge, which made recovery of our life savings impossible, even spending a good portion of our money on his own personal expenses.
Dan's representations to us were all lies.
Months of suffering by my wife and me were to pass before we found out in your court, Your Honor, the details of how Dan Strader had destroyed our old age as certainly as if he had taken out a gun to shoot us.
Nothing about Dan's lies and theft were inadvertent or spontaneous but rather planned destruction of a couple who had befriended him.
We wrote a letter on
Subsequently, we asked for a meeting with the elders of the church and that was refused.
We were granted a meeting with Joe Perez ,the Secretary-Treasurer, and Jim Ferrell, the Associate Pastor, two paid employees, which was supposed to be for the purpose of setting; up a meeting with Dan Strader and his wife, Melissa. No meeting ever was arranged and we were never notified as to why.
At that meeting with Jim and Joe in March, 1994, the tone of those two men can be best expressed when Joe Perez, the Secretary-Treasurer obviously speaking for Karl Strader, said "We think your going to the press stinks!"
Because of our good paperwork and documentation about the investment, it would have been easily possible for Karl Strader to ascertain the nature of his son’s problems many months ago, but he refused to do so and never met with us.
A few weeks later, the Carpenter’s
But this was only the beginning of the cruelties the Strader family heaped upon us.
As you know, Your Honor, Karl Strader allowed Dan to give
a speech from the pulpit of the Carpenter's
In front of the entire congregation and over radio WCIE, Dan called attention to what he called the "dark mysterious past" of the three of his investors whom he called "impostors" and "morally repugnant," naming three allegations: death of an investor’s son under mysterious circumstances, a victim whose son was a drunkard, and the 'third allegation was that another investor had molested his daughter.
Your Honor, can you in your wildest nightmare ever imagine the pulpit of a church used in such hate? Karl Strader has not amended or apologized in any way for such travesties being issued from his pulpit and over the radio for fifty miles in all directions.
Our complaint to the officials of the Assembly of God was answered that Assembly churches are mostly autonomous and the director can't or won't do anything about Karl Strader's behavior.
A review of the newspaper articles of the last year and one half indicate that the Carpenter's Home church membership has been basically told that Dan's problems, rather than being criminal, were due to inattention to details and procedures.
Your Honor, such misrepresentations are a tendency to
anarchy and especially when knowingly propagated by the pastor of one of
I have said about the Straders that they would not recognize the truth if it came down the street wearing a tuxedo.
But the cruelties this family has heaped upon my wife and me do not reach their full evil until on July 9, 1995, only a month ago, after Dan had admitted repeatedly in court that he had lied to investors over and over, Karl Strader from his pulpit on the following Sunday yelled out, "We won!" and laughingly lampooned victims whose sincere testimony in court indicated that they had trusted a minister's son because of the Strader name.
Pastor Strader was in court everyday and heard the testimony, therefore at this time he cannot use the excuse which he might have earlier that he did not fully understand what was going on.
Pastor Strader's, "We won!" statement before his congregation after the week prior in which his son admitted in court that he had ravaged scores of people with lies - that statement under controlled circumstances on the part of a man who claims association with the truthful God is an indication that there may not be a moral bone anywhere in the body of Dan or his pastor.
The Bible says liars and cruel people are not of God.
We contributed and worked at the Carpenter's
On the other hand, Karl and his people raised over $50,000.00
for what they called Dan’s defense fund and during that time Karl was given a
luxury car.
That churches are supposed to minister like Christ without respect of persons is a laugh in this case.
Your Honor, the Straders 'themselves by being so cruel to my wife and me have set the tone for your sentence.
Your Honor, you represent not only the government but also God Himself.
That Dan Strader and his family have carried on a campaign of misrepresentations has to be a factor in your decision.
How can those who show no mercy claim mercy for themselves?
Your Honor, you observed the incredible arrogance of Dan in court, but I personally will not go away from this situation believing that Dan would have acted so cocky if that attitude was not encouraged. Perhaps from the spiritual standpoint, the wrong Strader is going to jail.
The darkest thought which has entered my mind is that the fact that Dan's powerful family has not bothered to raise a dime for the relief of the victims, a factor which obviously could have encouraged Your Honor toward a more lenient sentence, means that there is a good possibility that Dan's family is as willing; to trash him as Dan was to trash my dear wife Patricia and myself.
Lust for power is a consuming fire and when it is supposedly done for God, it burns all the hotter; and Karl Strader is not the first person in church history who would, in the words of Dan Strader, "Do anything and say anything" for selfish purposes.
Dan did lie to keep Interstate Financial afloat as long as possible, and his father's use of the same immoral approach in regard to the Carpenter's Home Church will not succeed any better for the church than it did for Dan.
And, Your Honor, even if their perception of a glitch in evidence of discovery should succeed in the eyes of the Straders, they have not factored properly the thousands of witnesses in Polk County who have heard and read about my wife and me and how the elder and younger Strader crushed us.
All of us will shortly go, Your Honor, from your court to God's Court where the discovery is perfect; and it is my prayer that the Straders learn enough from you and your excellently run courtroom to turn away from the very unrighteousness Karl preaches about but does not know how to avoid.
My wife and I thank the free press and the jury and the whole judicial system.
It may not be perfect but it worked in this case.
Especially, we thank Cathy Cushner, Wayne Durden, and Chuck Zeller.
We also thank you, Your Honor, for your compassionate attitude toward the elderly victims and your patience with other nervous witnesses.
My wife and I call you a man of God in every sense possible, and it was very encouraging seeing you make order out of chaos. A case involving deception of this magnitude may never appear before your bench again.
The militant idolatry of their son by the Straders was the surest way to make things more difficult for you, Your honor, and in that they succeeded; but, for the life of me, how is it that such educated and advantaged people did not understand that the ridiculous and self-serving conspiracy theory in which the Straders stated that 'he free press and the State Attorney were "out to get us" was the surest way to destroy their son.
The courts, the State, and the press were after only one thing and it is called The Truth.
I have documented, Your Honor, that since the robbery of us by Dan Strader both he and his family have done everything they could to further destroy and humiliate my wife and me; therefore, as I said earlier, it is the Straders themselves who have set the tone for your decision two days from now on August 9th when thousands of people will see what God has to say through you, the Honorable Judge Robert Doyel.
P.S. As for Dan's promise to repay if not jailed, it seems to me just another attempt on his part to arrange the criminal justice system to his own benefit in the same fashion he preyed on his victims because of his own monumental selfishness.
Can a murderer escape jail by promising to work in the garden of his victim's family?
I would certainly like to have some of my dollars returned, but in Dan's case I reluctantly have to agree with some of the other victims that the only way to deal with diseased and criminal minds is to separate them from society.
The Strader's failure to raise a cent for the investor victims is the best indication of the Strader contempt for victims who committed the unpardonable act, like my wife and I did, of going to the authorities with the story of Dan's thefts.
Pastor Strader has committed professional suicide by
misleading his congregation and using dramatic effects to solicit sympathy
during church services which are supposed to be used to preach the Gospel. He behaves as if he owns the Carpenter's
"Woe to you, Scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faith. These you ought to have done, without leaving the others undone. (Matthew 23:23)
Prior to sentencing of Dan, the court received numerous letters from the defendant. Most letters pleaded for mercy and many contended that he was innocent of the crimes for which he was convicted. In the Judge’s words, “the defendant unsuccessfully tried to convince a jury and the court that his only mistake was to make bad business decisions because of his trust of other people especially conspirator Gary Pernice.”
The defendant quite clearly thought that he didn’t intend to hurt anyone and that he hadn’t committed any crimes. He was unwilling to acknowledge the truth that it was criminal for him to lie to people to get their money and then use their money for his own purposes. He evidently believes that he is above the law and it is perfectly acceptable for him to defraud people [or deceive them].
On
Karl Strader stated “I d like him to have an opportunity to make things right” and then he made the statement of the year which was typical of the Karl Strader, that “I see nothing that warrants years in prison.”
The following year in March,
1996 Karl Strader would again made a similar statement about the Assembly of
God Evangelist Jim Bakker, who was preaching at Carpenter’s
Well, for one thing Jessica Hahn
a church secretary had a sexual liaison with Bakker, a married Assembly of God
Pastor, at a
There after Dortch, an Assembly of God pastor, at Jim’s request arranged a $265,000 payment using designated money given by ordinary and honest people to Jessica Hahn to keep her from revealing what had happened. This whole episode which was one of the things Jim Bakker did that was totally immoral, wrong and criminal. Of course, Pastor Karl Strader didn’t see this behavior as wrong.
Well, definitely in my opinion the Assembly of God knows how to have some very interesting, comical and stupid pastors who it ordains and allows to minister under its denominational umbrella.
Pastor Karl Strader, in the beginning before the trial, requested the authorities recognize who they were--the Straders. That Dan Strader should not even be brought to trial. Pastor Karl Strader who was on the board of Regents of a University then proposed to the judge that a board be appointed, which included the President of Oral Roberts University, to keep “Dan Strader on track to repay investors.”
Dan Strader’s Attorney Jack Edmund told the judge that Rev. Strader’s plan and connections to make restitution ”more probable than possible.” Now, don’t you believe the Straders are special with their religious connections, influence, piety, arrogance, smiles and hypocrisy?
Assistant State Attorney Wayne Durden called Strader a common thief and the restitution plan from this so-called man of God nothing more than a vague promise “designed” to save Dan’s sorry rear end. It was an effort to hold the court, the victims and justice hostage to those vague promises.
Durden went on to say some very interesting words that leaders in the Assembly of God should note because it expresses the desires and character of Almighty God. Durden said, “Your Honor, there are more important things than money--truth, honesty and justice. He [Strader] hasn’t been honest, and he is seeking to avoid justice with money.”
Judge Doyel told pastor Karl Strader that he understands the theory behind the proposed board, but he didn’t see any sources of money for restitution.” Judge Doyel said ”Mr. Strader is a thief. Mr. Strader intentionally stole people’s money.” One of the jurors in this trial spoke out after the sentencing about the arrogance and attitudes of the Straders, especially Dan Strader, that it was blatant and flagrant.
At Dan’s sentencing, Pastor Karl Strader asked from the Judge for mercy for his son because this is his first offense. Maybe this was Dan’s Strader first offense at getting caught but reading the factual diverse material that I read, the pattern was already there in 1989 when Dan was in the insurance business forging signatures, and deceiving people.
The prosecution had shown that
in 1990-1994, Dan and a Christian friend and graduate also of
Judge Doyle asked Pastor Karl Strader “How he could show mercy when the defendant has not shown remorse for his crimes.“
Judge Doyle as a Minister of God went on to say something that was amazing to me and explains why God gave Dan Strader a 45 year sentence. He said, “I have prayed for wisdom on this, but how can I, as the conscience of the community forgive the man when, I have yet to hear Mr. Strader say he did anything illegal.”
Almost 40 people, including Strader’s sister and wife, in one day, spoke on Dan’s behalf. Karla Dixon his sister stated that her brother had a dream and not a scheme. His dream was to build homes for families on fixed incomes.” Most of the 11 investors who attended asked Judge Doyel to impose the maximum sentence.
Judge Doyel said “Since he won’t acknowledge stealing millions from the elderly, its not likely Daniel Strader will be rehabilitated” and sentenced the son of an Assembly of God preacher to 45 years in prison. Pastor Karl Strader and Dan’s wife Melissa were visibly upset with the sentence.
Karl later said, “The sentence was unexpected, though he couldn’t understand why victims were so vengeful.” He said his son plans to appeal. Karl also stated “we hurt with those who hurt.” [Another one of his heavenly exaggerations as his son Stephen would put it.] Smiling Dan Strader declined to comment on the sentence and told the reporters “ You can see me in jail.”
The fact remains that after everything was said and done and all the words of the Strader family, which we heard from them both in the church services and prayer meetings, that Dan Strader bilked 62 elderly investors of their life’s savings and their very lives through lies and deceit.
The Strader clan and others in AG still maintain nothing was
done wrong by any of the other Straders. Except the real facts and events show
that Karl fired Patricia from her sole livelihood after Dan stole
Boy! They really think that we are stupid and one day the truth would not come out? What also amazes me is, just like a prostitute who claims she did no wrong, the Assembly of God think that they are going to walk away from the Strader Affair unharmed and un-scratched. AG as a denomination must be joking if they don’t think that they are going to pay a price in the media and in other ways.
The courts were not stupid and neither is God. Dan Strader who got 45 years in jail still maintains with the rest of his family that it was a conspiracy and a frame up. How stupid do the Straders and others think we are?
Maybe their sheep are stupid and
deceived but others are not? The Strader case generated hard feelings in the
church and the community which have not gone away. Unfortunately, the case of
Alice Faye Redd, a former member of Carpenter’s
Isn’t this what many other religious pastors, leaders and evangelists do among us today, especially in the Assemblies of God because they take our money and our trust and convert it to their personal use and hidden agendas. They think as Karl Strader says and does because after all they are the servants of the living God and do not have to give an account to anybody.
That is why it’s so hard to know what their salaries are because they are special servants and we are nobodies. That is why AG and Karl Strader are so secretive and afraid to speak to the media and others even though “truth has nothing to fear but fear itself.”
The fact of the matter is that
nobodies such as myself aren’t being accused of the things that these religious
leaders are doing today in
Ironically, as a Minister of the Gospel, he knew very well what the Word of God said concerning justice and that it supports what the State Attorney and Judge Doyle said during the trial and sentencing of Dan Strader:
“Let every soul be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and the authorities that exist are appointed by God. Therefore whoever resists the authority resists the ordinance of God, and those who resist will bring judgment on themselves. For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to evil.
Do you want to be unafraid of the authority? Do what is good, and you will have praise from the same. For he is God's minister to you for good. But if you do evil, be afraid; for he does not bear the sword in vain; for he is God's minister, an avenger to execute wrath on him who practices evil. (Romans 12:1-4)
Yet, Pastors Karl and Stephen Strader talked in CHC, one Sunday morning in August, 1995 when we were there, against the government authorities, about what was done to Dan Strader and that the sentence of 45 years that Dan received was unjust, unfair and wrong. They believed and stated the State Attorney’s office and the media, mainly the newspapers, were out to get them because they were ‘high profile“ people. I saw their real evil and selfish deeds in treating others, including former staff members, as beneath their dignity.
A devastated elderly couple had to go to the State Attorney for help because Dan lied to them about the return of their hard earned money doesn’t qualify as religious persecution against the Straders. What does qualify as persecution is what the Straders did against people. That they should have helped and not beaten down real people like Patricia and Roy Aldrich, and other victims, such as my family and I, whose only crime was to have gotten to know a Strader.
One thing I observed was that while Pastor Karl Strader superbly preached and knew the Scriptures from his head, he definitely didn’t live them from his heart. Where does this put many of us who have a lot of head knowledge about God and His Word and His ways but not heart knowledge accompanied by real deeds and actions?
Roy Aldrich wrote the following in response to Dan Strader and a questionnaire that was requested from the Parole board.
“Dan Strader’s crime although he never used a gun resulted in the premature deaths of many innocent people and to this day Dan Strader has never admitted responsibility nor remorse for his actions nor for what happened to other people as a result of his greed and selfish ways.
In addition Dan Strader as the Son of Pastor Karl Strader had more light and opportunities than many of his victims. What was also sad that while he was preying on his innocent victims he would have discussion about the things of God and pray for and with his victims. All of this at the same time while he was committing the crime.
So Dan Strader was not and is not guilty of just one series of acts or doings but of many things. When he as Jim Bakker will admit some remorse and confession of his wrong doing only then can pardon be considered.”
Walter Morgan one of the victims of Dan Strader’s crime, who lost $160,000 to him, wrote a letter to the editor titled “Apple didn’t fall far” which was printed on July 25, 1995 and stated some profound truths.
“Regarding Karl Strader, the pastor of Carpenter’s
Anyone who observed the stupid smile on the convicted felon’s face during the trial could never disagree with me.
The members of that congregation who participated in that farce by dutifully sitting there and not walking out should hang their heads in shame and ask the Lord for forgiveness.
In my humble opinion, that particular pastor should never be allowed to preach another sermon as long as he lives!
Assemblies of God, take note!
Walter Morgan was one we used to say, “was right on the
button” because on
“Concerning your article on July 27, it was reported that
Carpenter’s
Summers come and summers go. It has been going on for years, so what‘s the reason for the drop in contributions? Certainly not the fact that Danny has been exposed for what he is.
What a lame excuse for these “good Christians” to come up with. Readers, stop and think. Here is my theoretical scenario. March, 1989 church splits and mostly large tithing members leave, drastically reduce income. In 1989 Danny starts to con people out of their life savings. In the meantime the church keeps going. In 1990, 1991, 1992, 1993 - the great enterprise keeps stealing money. In early 1994, He gets caught.
Result, funds stop coming in, End result 1995, church winds up in a financial bind, also referred to as a summer crunch for the benefit of the congregation. Stop and think of this from the business perspective and not the theological perspective.”
At the end of the Sunday morning service on December 17,
1995 Pastor Karl Strader stated these
words for no apparent reason, “One third of our congregation left to go across
the street, one quarter moved away to a downtown church and left us with a
hundred thousand debt [monthly] and we are still standing and we will
overcome.” He then added that God was a God of Miracles and started to pray for
miracles. What a farce? What a delusion helped and practiced by a minister of
the Gospel such as the Senior Pastor of Carpenter’s
The Tampa Tribune ran an article on
Disbarred
Under a plea agreement with prosecutors, a tearful Pernice also agreed to make restitution of almost $ 3.1 million to victims.
The grant theft charges against Pernice, who was a friend
of Strader’s when they were students at
Aldrich gave $100,000 to Strader and Pernice in December,
1993 to be invested in an “airship” enterprise being operated by Pernice in
Aldrich’s check was deposited the same day in the Lakeland bank account of Interstate Financial Services Inc. in which Strader and Pernice were partners, the charges said.
The $100,000 was converted into five cashier checks with two those checks totaling $50,000 made payable to another investor and two checks totaling $ 27,500 made payable to Strader and deposited into the personal accounts of Strader and his wife Melissa. The fifth check was payable to Daniel Strader and endorsed over to Pernice, the affidavit said.
Aldrich said he favors the long time prison term for Strader.“ Strader was arrogant and admitted doing no wrong.
Disbarred Atlanta Attorney, Gary John Pernice, pleaded guilty and cried real tears as Circuit Judge Robert Doyel went over a plea agreement something which Dan Strader never did. Pernice also stated “I want to do what I can do to make up” and was cooperative and accessible with the State again which Dan Strader never did. Pernice testified that no promises had been made by prosecutors, although Strader’s attorney suggested that prosecutors had made a deal with Pernice in exchange for his testimony against Strader.
In November, 1995 Pernice was sentenced to prison part time
to spend 180 weekends in jail and was mandated to give 28 percent of earnings
to bilked investors, Pernice was also to send letters to the editors of three
daily newspapers serving Polk county to explain his wrong doings and
apologizing to the public. He was to write the
Pernice was also to help victims file claims with the Georgia Bar Association which had a limited trust fund to pay clients who lost money because of their attorneys illegal activities.
Roy Aldrich as letter titled “Pernice sentence just“ was
printed in the Ledger on
“Although my wife and I lost $100,000 to the Strader and Pernice fraud, we feel that Gary Pernice unlike Dan Strader, is truly repentant and will do what he promises about trying to restore victims.
Dan Strader’s arrogance in court did not allow mercy to
be mixed with justice: but
Judge Doyel was firm but compassionate, a sign of true greatness.
Court testimony revealed that
Roy Aldrich personally in January, 1996 told me that Pernice
was doing everything to repay his obligations and had ensured that some money
from the Georgia Bar Association was sent to
Dan Strader filed an appeal from his jail cell. His appeal was reviewed and turned down by the courts and his forty-five years jail sentence stood. Dan used the opportunity to work on a book about his innocence and file lawsuits against many innocent parties. After a while the judicial system ignored his lawsuits.
Therefore, since we have this ministry, as we have received mercy, we do not lose heart. But we have renounced the hidden things of shame, not walking in craftiness nor handling the word of God deceitfully, but by manifestation of the truth commending ourselves to every man's conscience in the sight of God. For we do not preach ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord, and ourselves your bondservants for Jesus' sake. (2 Corinthians 4:1-5)
We give no offense in anything, that our ministry may not be blamed. But in all things we commend ourselves as ministers of God: in much patience, in tribulations, in needs, in distresses, in stripes, in imprisonment, in tumults, in labors, in sleeplessness, in fasting; by purity, by knowledge, by long-suffering, by kindness, by the Holy Spirit, by sincere love, by the word of truth, by the power of God, by the armor of righteousness on the right hand and on the left (2 Corinthians 6:3-7)
On
Satisfied with His Likeness
(Ps.
17:1-15)
I.
Give Ear to My Prayer. (1)
A.
Hear how I really feel. (Heb.
4:15)
B.
I am being genuine. (I Tim. 1:5)
C.
I want Thy Holy Judgment. (Ps.
139:23)
II. Put Me to the Test. C3)
A.
I want your evaluation. (Rev.
2:23)
B.
See how I do under stress. (I
Pet. 1:7)
C.
I don’t think you’ll find anything wrong.(II Tim. 1:3)
D.
I'm determined to watch my words.
(Ps. 19:14)
III. I Need Your Constant Strength. (6)
A. Keep me from tripping. (Ps. 91:12
B. Give me your comfort. (Jn. 14:26)
C. Keep me under protection. (Ps. 91:1)
D. I need your special attention. (Ps. 17:8)
1.
Enemies rise up against me. (II Tim.
i:12)
2.
Enemies oppress me. (Acts
3.
Enemies surround me. (Isa, 59:19)
a.
They're flourishing. (Ps. 37:35)
b.
They're worldly. (Phil. 3:19)
c.
They're sneaky. (Judges 1:4)
(1)
Fight against them. (I Sam. 17:47)
(2)
Deliver my soul.(Ps. 91:15)
IV I’m Planning on Winning Life’s
Battle (15)
A.
I'll have on the wedding garment. (Rev. 17:14)
B.
I'll stand in your image. (II
Cor. 3:18)
We see in the book of Corinthians, an example of what a real minister of the Gospel is like--Apostle Paul. Then we could compare it with what Pastor Karl Strader said and did with his sermon “Satisfied by His Likeness.” Apostle Paul stated:
“And I, brethren, when I came to you, did not come with excellence of speech or of wisdom declaring to you the testimony of God. For I determined not to know anything among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified. I was with you in weakness, in fear, and in much trembling.
And my speech and my preaching were not with persuasive words of human wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, that your faith should not be in the wisdom of men but in the power of God.
However, we speak wisdom among those who are mature, yet not the wisdom of this age, nor of the rulers of this age, who are coming to nothing. 7: But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, the hidden wisdom which God ordained before the ages for our glory,... (1 Corinthians 2:1-7)
Karl Strader used persuasive words of human wisdom and there wasn’t a demonstration of the Spirit and power of God in it because he preached his typical self-centered (himself) sermon. Jesus said “He who speaks from himself seeks his own glory; but He who seeks the glory of the One who sent Him is true, and no unrighteousness is in Him.” (John 7:18)
As a result, I wrote
a letter to the Senior and all the Associate Pastors of Carpenter’s
“Now, as a faithful adherent of Carpenter’s
Concerning the words “I want your evaluation...and I don’t think you I
find anything wrong, ” you will be happy to know that I have written my third
manuscript which was called “The CHC Affair.” The title “The CHC Affair” have
now been renamed and replaced with “The Strader Affair;” as Carpenter’s
In this manuscript, which I have also shared with others, I evaluated Pastor Karl Strader as he had requested and defined what is wrong. Extracts from the Epilogue of “The Strader Affair” is herewith included. Similarly a brief which has now been renamed “The Strader 1995 Affair“ has been submitted to different leaders in the U.S. Congress for their review and action.
I love the new and good attitude of honesty, openness
and accountability expressed in the pastor’s first sermon. This is something
which I have been advocating for a while. To add to the ten good points that
the pastor stressed for the church in the New Year as the “Word of God” I would
love to see a new honesty, openness and accountability in Carpenter’s
To quote Judge Doyle words to the Straders “the defendant unsuccessfully tried to convince a jury and the court that his only mistake was to make bad business decision because of this trust of other people .... The defendant quite clearly thought that he did not intend to hurt any one that he has not committed any crimes. He was unwilling to acknowledge the truth that it was criminal for him to lie to people to get their money and then use their money for his own purposes. He evidently believes that he is above the law and it is perfectly acceptable for him to defraud people [or deceive them]. There are many people who never will accept the truth of this case.”
“The fact that Florida newspapers recently have been writing in the Mid Central of how the Straders and Redds operating under the wings of the Florida District Council of the Assemblies of God Inc., a non profit religious corporation, and Pastor Karl Strader of Carpenter’s Home Church of Lakeland, also a non profit religious corporation, conspired and defrauded many elderly people of at least seventeen million dollars from decent hard working Florida residents.” [The Strader Affair, 1995 Brief]
The nice prophets, who prophesied of the Straders and even CHC, were wrong about Dan getting out before Christmas, as Dan is in there for a long time. Justly so as the courts of the land who act on behalf of God decreed it. My question now to the pastors of CHC is what else were they wrong about?
I do know that
one prophet spoke about the words in the book of James and the financial famine
continuing and what God does when one of his poor innocent sheep is touched by
wolves in sheep’s clothing. How God brought David’s sin into the open before all
of
Maybe this New Year will be a time of soul searching and change. I know that many are waiting for it. My prayer and your prayer no doubt is soon Lord soon!
Well, I do ask your patience and indulgence with me and my letters and I trust and know that something good will come out of it.
Yours in Christ
The Pastor didn’t give me a written response. However, the
same day, when he received my letter, he went on the Church radio and gave a
small message which said that “There was a time and season for everything. A
time to war and a time for peace. Just like Jesus didn’t give a response to
Pontius Pilate when he was being led to
The Pastor also said “while the Bible tells us to tell the truth, the whole truth; we are not to tell all the truth because that would make us tale-bearers.” Also, “the Bible admonishes us not to cast our pearls before the swine and bring out into the open, the special things of God.”
In other words, just like Dan Strader did during his court trial refusing to admit that he did any wrong and was arrogantly defying the judge and the court system, Pastor Karl Strader had a special dispensation and he didn’t have to give an account to anybody but God Himself.
Karl Strader in his words had become Jesus Christ in the flesh being persecuted by his enemies and was going to the cross. What a delusion for a so-called Man of God and an Assembly of God Pastor!
Obviously, the sermon on enemies wasn’t the only one that Karl preached there were others such as the one of ‘Shining Lights.’ Karl just like the devil, knew and preached the truths of the Word of God but He didn’t practice it. Jesus said "My mother and My brothers are these who hear the Word of God and do it." (Luke 8:21)
"But everyone who hears these sayings of Mine, and does not do them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand: "and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it fell. And great was its fall." (Luke 21:26-27)
Apostle James the brother of Jesus also wrote about doing and said:
“But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man observing his natural face in a mirror; for he observes himself, goes away, and immediately forgets what kind of man he was. But he who looks into the perfect law of liberty and continues in it, and is not a forgetful hearer but a doer of the work, this one will be blessed in what he does. (James 1:22-25)
So as we read the following sermon outline and what we know
about the Strader Affair we can make our own judgments and assessments about
the man Karl Strader. Mind you just like Karl Strader used Patricia Aldrich to
be a ghost writer for his church letters, he used one of his wife’s relatives
to help him write his books. So it would be curious to find out who was the
ghost writer for his sermons and that would explain to me why he didn’t
practice them, they were not his on work. Just like Carpenter’s
Shining Lights
I. Jesus Did Good Works. (Jn. 14:10, 11)
A. He was anointed. (Isa. 61:1-3)
B. He was the Messiah. (Matt. 11:2-5)
C. He went about doing good. (Acts
D. He destroyed the works of the devil. (I Jn. 3:8) (John 10:32)
II. We Are to Do Good Works. (Eph. 3:10)
A. We have other examples. (Heb. 12:1)
1. David (I Sam. 19:4)
2
Dorcas (Acts
B. We are admonished. (Matt. 5:16)
1.
Women (I Tim. 2:10j
2. Young Men
(Tit . 2: 7 )
3.
Rich (I Tim.
4 . Everyone ( I I Tim.
a. The fool doesn’t. (Ps. 14:1)
b. . We'll be judged. (Prov. 24:12
c. . Rulers endorse. (Rom. 13:3)
d. We deny Him if we don't (Tit.
e. We're to be zealous. (Tit. 2:14)
f . We're to maintain. (Tit. 3:8, 18)
g. We're to provoke. (Heb. 10:36)
III. We Are All Involved in Some Manner. (I Pet. 2:12)
A. Fivefold ministry.
1. Apostles
2. Prophets
3. Pastors
4. Teachers
s. Support Troops (Eph.
1. Workers of Miracles
2. Gifts of
Healing (1 Cor.
3. Exhorters
4.
Givers (
5. Administration
6. Shewers of Mercy
7 . Helps ( I Cor . 12: 2f3 )
(Matt. 25:31-46)
KARL D. Strader
As seen by the evidence of what Karl did and did not do for Roy Aldrich, Karl Strader was not a doer of the word but only a preacher of it. For Jesus said about such hypocrites:
He answered and said to them, "Well did Isaiah
prophesy of you hypocrites, as it is written: 'This people honors Me with their
lips, but their heart is far from
The word of God states:
They have all turned aside; they have together become unprofitable; there is none who does good, no, not one." "Their throat is an open tomb; with their tongues they have practiced deceit"; "The poison of asps is under their lips"; "whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness." "Their feet are swift to shed blood; destruction and misery are in their ways; and the way of peace they have not known." "There is no fear of God before their eyes." (Romans 3:12-18)
For "He who would love life and see good days, let him refrain his tongue from evil, and his lips from speaking deceit. (1 Peter 3:10)
Karl as a pastor and student of the Bible should have also been aware of all of the Words of Jesus that he preached to others.
“Say to those who are fearful-hearted, "Be strong, do not fear! Behold, your God will come with vengeance, with the recompense of God; He will come and save you." (Isaiah 35:4)
“Have I therefore become your enemy because I tell you the truth?” (Galatians 4:16)
“For the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness,
righteousness, and truth” (Ephesians
5:9)
On
RE: Mr. Walter Kambulow letter of
Dear Mr. Don Lunsford,
As a highly paid executive of the Assemblies
of God, one of your responsibilities is public relations as well as writing
letters. However, in regards to my letters, I note that you have chosen not to
respond to an active adherent of Carpenter’s
Don’t you think that the Strader Affair has gone far enough and someone should deal with it inside the Assembly of God before others outside of it do it? That is one of the reasons I have spent so much time about the Strader Affair. It is better to clean your own house of evil doings rather than letting others do it!
On
I reminded them
that Don Lunsford in his letter of November 20, 1995, stated to me “I trust
that it will bring enlightenment and inspiration to me” and this was also what
I anticipated with the “News Release” which had been faxed to news desks all
across the great country of America, including Christianity Today and CBN as
well as Senators and Congressmen.
RE: News release “Strader
Affair” -
Cancer as “A pernicious, spreading evil; tending to cause death or serious injury; deadly. b. Causing great harm; destructive.
Gentlemen!
We live in a great country where we are all free to express our views and many
other things. Writing and talking about the Holy Ghost and laughter and what is
going on in some Charismatic and Pentecostal churches is a very minor subject
that does not affect the lives of many people. But on the contrary in the same
churches, Pentecostal and Charismatic people are being robbed, used and
their premature deaths are being caused
by the actions of people in these churches, as a result of Assembly of God
Pastors and members; especially in
Should not your publication and
organization write, talk about and correct this injustice which affects many
people where we presently live. Do you not have a real moral responsibility to
help people who have been robbed, hurt, and used by Christian Charismatic and
Pentecostal people in this state of
For the record, there is presently a cancer in
Carpenter’s
Recently, mid-central
The sad part is these religious people composed of basically two families called the Redds and the Straders have even used their church, Carpenter’s Home Church of Lakeland, Florida, as battleground for the control of members and who can literally rob them best as well as others. The other said part is that the Straders and Redds operated under the wings of the Florida District Council of the Assemblies of God Inc., also a non profit religious corporation and organization.
Over the years the Assembly of God have produced and/or ordained Jimmy Bakker, Jimmy Swaggart, Redds and the Straders; Religious people and leaders who have used their position of trust to take advantage of others. Ironically, no one has looked into the organization or corporation that supported them or allowed them to operate; the Assemblies of God.
While newspapers and the Florida Justice system have been able to deal correctly and properly with many of the perpetuators of proven crime and fraud against the elderly, the system which has allowed all of this to come into being has not been looked into and dealt with, includes Pastor Karl Strader of Carpenter’s Home Church and the Assemblies of God, both of Lakeland, Florida.
Until we personally met in November, 1995, Roy and Patricia Aldrich, one of the couples among these wounded seniors who were robbed of $ 100,000 and had their employment terminated by the Straders and who were also very active members of Carpenter’s Home Church, as well as personal friends of the Straders, we did not believe the newspaper stories about the Straders were true. We were later to learn what was done in the name of Christianity by those belonging to this church and how also people were robbed, fired and used at will in it.
To me what the Straders and Redds, operating out of Carpenter’s Home Church and under the wings of the Assembly of God, had done to poor, trusting, unsuspecting and defenseless elderly people was unpardonable and unbelievable and had to be dealt with and even swiftly.
My own personal dealings and conversations over a year with Pastors Karl and Stephen Strader showed me that Dan Strader with his evil deeds, congeniality, and arrogance was only a reflection of his father Pastor Karl Strader. My research and conversations with many of the Lord’s people only confirmed my worst fears about the Straders.
By choosing to do nothing about the
Strader Affair and people like the Redds and Straders, for whatever reason, the
Assembly of God Inc., both in Florida and Springfield, have become a partner in
the deeds and actions of the Straders and Redds and of the Pastor of
Carpenter’s Home Church. They have also given a bad name to Carpenter’s
What was also sad, was that the
similarity of their deeds were reflected in the Jim Bakker and Jimmy Swaggart
affair; where the money and trust of the elderly Lord’s people were so misused
by these Assembly of God Pastors. Yet these type of deeds were not publicized
or done on such as scale in
The American Heritage dictionary defines fleeced, fleecing, fleec·es. 1. To defraud of money or property; swindle. 2. To shear the fleece from. 3. To cover with or as if with fleece. --fleec“er n. It defines shear·ing, shears. --tr. 1. To remove (fleece or hair) by cutting or clipping. 2. To remove the hair or fleece from. 3. To cut with or as if with shears. 4. To divest or deprive as if by cutting.
It is my personal expressed opinion that some of fleeciers should be cut and the District Superintendent Don Lunsford is the first of them that it is already happening to.
It is amazing that these “fleeciers”, as Evangelist Rodney Howard Browne has categorized Pastors during his 1996 Camp meeting where I was present, always talks about money and asks us for more. However, we cannot talk about or ask them to be accountable to us concerning their salaries and what they do with the money we gave them? We have to go on the honor system and trust them. What a double standard! The problem is we did and do trust them with it and it is amazing what some are doing with it.
Why is it that money is so important to them and they ignore their own sheep such as Walter Kambulow or treat them so poorly such as the Aldrich? What does an honest man have to be afraid of? Why can’t we ask them some questions and make them accountable? Others are accountable, why aren’t they including Don Lunsford, Karl Strader, and Thomas E. Trask.
As I told one of the pastors who phoned me and
complained about what I was doing, “I did my homework I read the newspaper
articles about the Straders, the Articles of Incorporation and Policies about
CHC, I talked to the staff of CHC, to the victims of Dan and Karl Strader, and
to others. I wrote to them and to others and they wrote back to me. “My Brief
to the Congress of United States does have validity, reality, truth,
testimonials and facts; even if others such as yourself have chosen to ignore
them.” Again that was not my fault but theirs!
On Tuesday morning I was told by a friend that on
RE: “Strader Affair” and my memo of
“One down, a few more to go.
Considering all the letters and faxes that I sent to you
for action concerning Pastor Karl Strader and the answers that you gave to
myself and to Roy Aldrich, I cannot say
that I am disappointed that you were terminated by the Assembly of God and
given a 90 day notice and a half year salary as severance. To me even this is
unfair considering what severance pay that the 35 staff members who were let go
by Carpenter’s
On
During Lunsford’s
tenure, the Assembly of God were rocked by revelations that Daniel Strader had
bilked dozens of victims out of millions of
dollars. Strader is the son of Karl Strader, pastor of Carpenter’s
On
“Make yourselves clean; put away the evil of your doings from before My eyes. Cease to do evil, learn to do good; seek justice, rebuke the oppressor; defend the fatherless, plead for the widow, is this not the fast that I have chosen: to loose the bonds of wickedness, to undo the heavy burdens, to let the oppressed go free, and that you break every yoke.”
However, Pastor Karl Strader missed the main point of what these verses were all about, how they applied to him and his deeds and went off on his usually oratorical tangent. He failed to see the words the Lord gave to him because, in reality, the verses were first for him and then for his congregation. As was Pastor Karl Strader’s style for the last seventeen years, he dug up some old message such as “Seven reasons why God does not answer prayer” and tacked it onto these verses.
He spoke to his congregation about things such as, God doesn’t answer prayers of people who smoke, of people who have promiscuous sex, and people who have un-forgiveness in their hearts. The warning of unanswered prayer was supposed to shape up his flock and give them their miracle and power of God that they needed in their daily lives. This is how he feed his sheep when he missed what God was saying to him presently and gave them stale bread from years ago.
What was also amazing
to me, that in his religious mind, the Senior Pastor of Carpenter’s
To Karl Strader, as a professional preacher, this was the main theme of his religious message “telling the lost that they were lost.” To him and many other religious people, this is what it was to loose the bonds of wickedness, to undo heavy burdens and let the oppressed go free, is in telling people about a Deliverer from their sins.
Jesus was more than just a Deliverer from people’s sins, He was and is Life, Victory, Prosperity, Joy and Health because the great ”I Am that I Am” had come in the flesh, died on the Cross, triumphed gloriously and rose again in order that we can have all that God is and has for us. How foolish are our ways! If we only let the Carpenter of Nazareth Jesus Christ live in us and through us, the lost would see that they are lost and the resulting miracles in our lives will make them want the Miracle working God for themselves.
In my mind, Karl Strader, never understood that salvation was not an experience or a one time event, but it was a real person called Jesus and a relationship in our life with the Father-God that goes on for eternity and from which good things flow from us to others. Then people could see by our deeds and not our words that God is in us.
Often Jesus said He was the Way, the Truth and the Life and everything else was just religious expression. Karl Strader always preached himself and what he was going through and not who God was and all the things that God had done for us on the Cross.
Sadly, Karl Strader didn’t understand, know or appreciate all that God had done for us at the Cross. It was at the Cross the Lord took our defeat and failures and literally replaced them with His Victories and Successes in our lives. Jesus didn’t come to steal or to rob or to destroy but to give us Himself with His Life, His Abundance, His Victories and His Riches.
Karl, as so many of us, missed and didn’t understand the Cross but he dwelt on the negative things such as our sins. Sin separated man from God but the Cross reunited us with our Father who loves us and wants to shower us with His great riches and blessings. The prerequisite is the openness of our heart.
The Cross represents the total and complete destruction of all the devil has done to us from poverty, sickness, disease, despair, unbelief, and insecurity and now we could literally walk in continual one hundred percent victory and supply. We have been given the power to chase the giants and enemies out of the land, possess and take the land and not just hold the fort till Jesus comes.
The Lord said through the prophet Isaiah, “But he who puts his trust in Me shall possess the land, and shall inherit My holy mountain." (Isaiah 57:13) In order to possess and inherit we must put our trust in Him and not in our religious beliefs, doctrines, ways and institutions.
Many of my friends, who sat under Pastor Karl Strader’s teaching, previously complained that Karl doesn’t preach anything new or fresh but he used the same old sermons. I thought about it and said it was probable true because Karl’s relationship with God was not fresh and real, but old and stale. So what was in him came out, because Jesus said:
“Brood of vipers! How can you, being evil, speak good things? For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks.” (Matthew 12:34)
Also, the Senior Pastor forgot the words of Apostle Paul who said
“For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel, not with wisdom of words, lest the Cross of Christ should be made of no effect. For the message of the Cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. But of Him you are in Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God--and righteousness and sanctification and redemption--that, as it is written, He who glories, let him glory in the LORD.“ (1 Corinthians 1:17-18,30-31)
Jesus Christ was and is our daily Savior and Redeemer as well the power of God and the wisdom of God for all those who call upon and walk with Him in an honest open hearted way. When we put this truth into our hearts and experience it then we can say with Apostle Paul:
“But God forbid that I should boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.” (Galatians 6:14)
The Lord would say to Karl Strader and to us, “Incline your ear, and come to Me. Hear, and your soul shall live; and I will make an everlasting covenant with you--the sure mercies of David... seek the LORD while He may be found, call upon Him while He is near. Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; let him return to the LORD, and He will have mercy on him; and to our God, for He will abundantly pardon.” (Isaiah 55:3-7) "I call heaven and earth as witnesses today against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing; therefore choose life, that both you and your descendants may live.” (Deuteronomy 30:19)
So on Monday, February 4, 1996 I wrote an open letter to Pastor Karl Strader of Carpenter’s Home Church with copies to the Lakeland Ledger, Tampa Tribune, Assembly of God and others in regard to: the Sunday Morning Sermon of February 4, 1996 based on Isaiah 1:14-23 and Isaiah 58:
Dear Pastor Karl Strader,
Your choice of Scripture verses for the Sunday services from Isaiah 1 and Isaiah 58 were fantastic, especially as they were out of the pages of my manuscript “Seek, Speak, Listen and Obey.” But as always, you missed the point because it doesn’t only apply to others, it applies first to you and then your family: For the Word of God states in James 2:15-20 the following:
15: If a brother or sister is naked and destitute of daily food, 16: and one of you says to them, "Depart in peace, be warmed and filled," but you do not give them the things which are needed for the body, what does it profit? 17: Thus also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead. 18: But someone will say, "You have faith, and I have works." Show me your faith without your works, and I will show you my faith by my works. 19: You believe that there is one God. You do well. Even the demons believe-and tremble! 20: But do you want to know, O foolish man, that faith without works is dead?”
If you and your family don’t know what I am talking especially about the kind of faith that you exemplify just look at the Elderly in your community that were robbed, hurt and even widowed by the actions of the Straders in the last few years; even people like Roy and Patrica Aldrich, and Jack and Betty Collins, sheep and members of your own church. if you still do not understand or get the point please read the following random excerpts from my manuscript which talk about the Straders and their deeds:
Don’t you think that it is time for this hypocrisy to stop because it’s one thing to know and speak scriptures verses from the head but it’s another thing to live it from the heart.
On
Since our letter of Feb. 5th was ignored by the Strader family, we have no choice but to very strongly recommend that Dan Strader remain incarcerated for the maximum time allowed by his sentence.
As required by the form sent in your letter, our names
are: Roy and Patricia Aldrich,
Dan Strader was convicted of stealing our life savings of $100,000.00 by using lies and deceit and since your question about the effect on our lives is probably the must important factor to you and the Parole Commission, let me simply repeat the words of Jerry Hill, state attorney of Polk County: "The crimes of Dan Strader have done more damage to more elderly people than any homicide that I have prosecuted.“
Dan's thefts have forced us to sell our house and most of our personal possessions and move into a trailer. He has shown absolutely no remorse and Judge Robert Doyel who presided over this case stated: "The first step toward rehabilitation is admission of wrong doing, and therefore I feel that Dan Strader will never be rehabilitated."
What Mr. Strader did was calculated and carefully planned with a willful disregard for the lives of others to such an unbelievable degree of extremity that my wife and I still cannot understand why anyone would try to destroy us in this fashion, especially since we had given faithful service to the Carpenter’s Church in Lakeland pastored by Karl Strader, Dan’s Father.
As for restitution, the slim possibility of that can be best exemplified that Karl Strader solicited over $52,000.00 for “Dan’s Defense Fund" and not one dime to help the elderly victims of his son's thefts. In other words, not only Dan, but his entire family took the position that the money stolen should have been regarded as the rightful property of Dan Strader.
The Straders and Dan, of course, took very strong positions against those victims who went to the State Attorney and the media, but did not react with the slightest compassion toward the victims, many of whom were members in the Strader church.
There is no basis for early release.
Sincerely,
Roy Aldrich and Patricia
"He who overcomes shall be clothed in white garments, and I will not blot out his name from the Book of Life; but I will confess his name before My Father and before His angels. (Revelation 3:5)
"He who overcomes, I will make him a pillar in the temple of My God, and he shall go out no more. And I will write on him the name of My God and the name of the city of My God, the New Jerusalem, which comes down out of heaven from My God. And I will write on him My new name. (Revelation 3:12)
Roy Aldrich, like his friend
Walter, loved to write letters. On
Greetings in the name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ:
As you probably already know, a very important vote concerning the status of our beloved Pastor Strader will be taken on Monday evening, March 13th, at a congregational meeting.
At that meeting there will be a vote of confidence for our pastor, and I am sure you can see the importance of attending it to make sure that your will, as it is submitted to God's will, is done.
No doubt you are familiar with the fact that there have been two previous meetings in which our church situation was discussed; however, at this one a crucial vote will be taken that will determine whether or not the vision Pastor Strader has for our church will be continued.
It is a very serious matter for any individual or group of individuals to attempt to terminate the ministry of a servant of God and, frankly, such an attempt may be made Monday night by a dissident minority who consider that their opinions should be placed above the facts as seen by a loyal majority, the staff, and the pastor.
Strong written affirmations by Uncle Shelby, Rusty Nelson, and Kevin Doddy indicate their 100% support for pastor, and other voices in support of the pastor will be heard on Monday.
Only members will have the privilege of voting at this meeting. In all fairness it should be pointed out that there will be an equal opportunity for all sides to speak under the chairmanship of a district official. [Thomas E. Trask]
Your attendance at this meeting could be the greatest contribution you are going to make in 1989 to this great church.
By responding to this call, we demonstrate our willingness to accept the responsibility as well as the rewards of our having been selected by Jesus, before the foundation of the world, for the privilege of being associated with Pastor Strader in the great mission of getting the gospel out around the world.
Concerned, loving supporters of the Strader family.
Pastor Karl Strader also enjoyed to write letters of
appreciation because on
Dear Roy and Pat:
Greetings in the Name of the Lord Jesus!
Only God knows how close the vote would have been had you folks not helped to get "the letters" out to encourage people to come last Monday night.
You are to be commended.
God bless you for wanting to see things done fairly!
Sincerely Yours in Christ
Karl D. Strader, Pastor
A year later, Roy Aldrich’s friend and beloved Pastor, Karl Strader, wrote on March 28,. 1990 the following:
Dear Roy & Pat
Greetings in the Name of the Lord Jesus!
Thank you for your kind remarks and your input. I really appreciate the good work that you have done and are doing, Pat. I really appreciate your sweet spirit. You and Roy have been real friends.
Sincerely in Christ
Ironically, on
If I go home from the Earth, What is that but a
promotion?
Do not let those like the Straders and Rileys who have
dealt with me wickedly think this is a judgment on me but rather a blessing.
They will receive of the Lord what they have sown
in misery and deception and
untruthfulness to Patricia and me and I never again will see them as the violators
of the Cross of Christ.
Walter and Sandy Kambulow prophets of God will carry on
the fight.
Love to Patricia, I have set affairs in order to such a
degree that the future is planned insofar as I could do it.
For a Time
On
"My heart
rejoices in the LORD; My horn is exalted in the LORD. I smile at my enemies,
because I rejoice in Your salvation. "No one is holy like the LORD, for
there is none besides You, nor is there any rock like our God. "Talk no more so very proudly; let no
arrogance come from your mouth, for the LORD is the God of knowledge; and by
Him actions are weighed. (1Samuel 2:1-4)
“To my wonderful friend Roy who had
some many enemies in his life and against unbelievable obstacles never gave up,
but fought the good fight of faith. To his wife Patricia whose pleasant smile
and disposition always gave him hope for victory.”
My family and I dropped in to visit
Roy shared with us that he was happy and expressed to me that “Victory over the Straders was around the corner that there was a change coming to his life and this week he did something’s for Patricia that had been left undone for quite a while.”
Little did we know what was going to happen next because on
On
Dan Strader was writing his memoirs now that another of Dan’s victims Roy Aldrich died. “I don’t like being here, mainly because I feel I am unjustly incarcerated said Strader who was convicted last summer of swindling 60 mostly elderly investors out of their life savings.
The thrust of his memoirs will be the conspiracy angle of the trial...said the son of a prominent Lakeland Minister.“ Strader still maintains he is innocent. I haven’t changed my position from day one. I know it is difficult for readers to understand, but there is absolutely no merit to the charges.
The perception people were given is that I stole money from my clients and diverted it to my personal use. But that is not the case.” Like Father like son, deceivement of doing no wrong and being innocent runs in the family.
On page A11, the Ledger ran another story written by Guy McCarthy titled “Strader scandal takes physical toll on victims where it was written.” One of the tragedies in the Daniel Strader saga has been that some of his elderly victims have complained that their losses have cause depression and health problems. At least two former Strader investors have died since Strader was sentenced in August.
In a lengthy statement before he sentenced Strader in August, Circuit Judge Robert Doyel said “The Psychological and financial devastation wreaked by this defendant is enormous... Many Victims are terribly embarrassed by being taken in. Others contend that they suffered physical symptoms as a result of fraud perpetrated on them by the defendant.”
Patricia Aldrich, now
Roy’s memorial service was one of the nicest that my wife and I had ever attended in our life and was held at Wesley Memorial United Methodist Church in Lakeland, Florida with about 100 people in attendance. Victory Assembly of God, the splinter group from Carpenter’s Home Church (CHC), sent a wonderful baguette of flowers and they were represented by two of their pastoral staff members, who were also formerly pastors of CHC.
Many from Patricia’s new Assembly of God church and school
where she was now teaching, in Orlando, were also in attendance, as well as
many of Roy’s friends. Patricia’s former boss and Principal of Evangel School
who was also let go by CHC Inc. attended. Obviously, nobody from the Strader’s
family or Carpenter’s
We first sang
Jill Long, a school nurse and a personal friend of the
Aldriches, sang one of Sandy Patti’s songs “Carry on.” One of
Pastor Paff, who came to know
“Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men.
And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross. Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name.” (Philippians 2:5-9)
Also, how
We then sang
Well, for me truly Roy Aldrich, who was a man of action and purpose, especially in the last few months, was now literally rejoicing and exalting in the Lord and now smiling at all His enemies because I know that when Roy walked into the portals of Glory the Lord said to him, "And I have been with you wherever you have gone, and have cut off all your enemies from before you, and have made you a great name, like the name of the great men who are on the earth.” (2 Samuel 7:9)
Roy Aldrich in deed was a true a man of faith who like Moses, “Refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter, choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God than to enjoy the passing pleasures of sin, esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt; for he looked to the reward.” And like the prophets before Him “Who through faith subdued kingdoms, worked righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, out of weakness were made strong, became valiant in battle, turned to flight the armies of the aliens.” (Hebrews 11:24,26,34)
Over the last few months, when
The real Roy unlike others that I got to know, was also very close to Karl and Joyce Strader and even slept in their home when the Straders went on vacation, would have forgiven Dan Strader for his monetary crimes if he only admitted he did something wrong, and he would have also forgiven his own pastor Karl Strader for being used and betrayed by him, if Karl only admitted that he did something wrong but according to Roy till his departure to a better place “the Straders always arrogantly maintained their innocence of any wrong doings as the Straders were never wrong, it was always the fault of others.”
My new friend Roy personally told me that “It was not the
loss of the one hundred thousand dollars, nor the resultant IRS investigation
fueled by the Straders, which demanded
$76,000 from him, nor the firing of Patricia from Evangel by Karl which was
their sole livelihood, nor becoming person non gratify by members of
Carpenter’s Home Church, nor being bad mouthed from the pulpit by Karl and Dan
Strader which hurt him but that they “called themselves Christians and did such
evil deeds.” It was this betrayal that led
Looking back about all that the Straders did and said, I
asked
Maybe now the Senator will use his influence when he looks
into organizations like the Assembly of God, to also look into the what the
Straders have done? Then the work which
Although, I had only known
Roy Aldrich also, wrote a letter to an Assembly of God
Pastor, as he did to many others, telling of what the Straders had done to him,
how he lost his life’s savings and as a result he had to sell his home and his
precious train collection and move into a trailer in Orlando, because of
religious Christians who didn’t care about him, used him and said I love you,
while with real deeds did terrible and evil things to him and his wife. The
Assembly of God Pastor, with these words, replied prophetically to
“We do not wish be involved in that which has wounded you so severely. This church has always taken a position of restoration regardless of who is at fault. We will be praying for you and your family.”
Yes
“Dan Strader’s crime although he never used a gun resulted in the premature deaths of many innocent people and to this day Dan Strader has never admitted responsibility nor remorse for his actions nor for what happened to other people as a result of his greed and selfish ways.”
The parole board recently asked
One day, I will have a chance to talk with my friend again and tell him that when He was promoted to a new position in Heaven to be with “Lazarus in Abraham’s bosom,“ the battle had just begun and victory was guaranteed by the Lord Himself because evil doesn’t triumph over Good as long as God is alive.
‘For the LORD your God is He who goes with you, to fight for you against your enemies, to give you Victory.’ (Deuteronomy 20:4)
Until my passing away I will continue to openly write and tell others about the Strader Affair and all that happened and was went done in Lakeland, Florida--“How the elderly were raped, robbed and even murdered by wolves in sheep’s clothing.”
Roy Aldrich doesn’t have to beg for real justice from others now. He himself, can tell the King of Kings about it because the Word of God states:
"So it was that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels to Abraham's bosom. The rich man also died and was buried. "And being in torments in Hades, he lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom. "Then he cried and said, 'Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus that he may dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame.'
"But Abraham said, 'Son, remember that in your
lifetime you received your good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things; but
now he is comforted and you are tormented.” (Luke 16:24-25)
Roy Aldrich in his last days was a true prophet and a great
man of God and by God’s grace he has now literally has overcome life’s
challenges and the Lord has given
The Lord has often stated to me that the steps of a good man
are ordered of the Lord and
For “God by His Spirit was and is moving on and shaking everything: our churches, denominations, institutions, understanding and way of doing things.” The wind that is now blowing is shaking the Christian church “until only that which can not be shaken- the good, real and true will be left.“
“That along with the Apostasy, lukewarmness, corruption and compromise in the Church there will be a great moving of the Holy Spirit. God is a God of purpose, plan, design, and objectivity. He has a definite purpose for the shaking, out of this turmoil is going to come maturity and true spiritual growth. God is shaking the Church and will continue to shake it until Satan and his counterfeits Christians are exposed; until there will be a clear line drawn between those carnal, compromising Christians who have been deceived and are part of Satan’s counterfeit system and those Christians who make up the pure righteous Bride of Christ.
A Remnant of holy consecrated people are going to emerge from this shaking who have their eyes fixed only on Jesus Christ; whose faith is fixed in the unshakable, immovable word of God, who possess a love and a great hunger for the truth; who hate sin and are not compromising the Word of God.
The true will be separated from the false. God is
speaking through the shaking to His people. The days when Christians have
followed after men and their teachings, instead of fixing their eyes upon God
and His word is over!“ [Praise the Lord!]
Roy Aldrich was part of the shaking process, shaking ”the
Church until Satan and his counterfeits Christians are exposed.” So as we
remember Roy Aldrich and his real work of exposing evil and wickedness in high
places in Carpenter’s
"And behold, I am coming quickly, and My reward is with Me, to give to every one according to his work. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End, the First and the Last." Blessed are those who do His commandments, that they may have the right to the tree of life, and may enter through the gates into the city. (Revelations 22:12-14)
Recently, I had told Pastor Karl Strader and other prominent
Pastors and Evangelists that the day of
Family run churches and evangelistic organizations in
God Himself, was not putting up with this any type of nonsense anymore, and He was using men of God, such as Roy and Walter, to accomplish His plan and purpose. I also wrote to them and said:
“I hear and see from you, wonderful words about the Love
of God and the work of the Holy Spirit but not about “truth, righteousness and
justice.” These you ought to have done,
without leaving the others undone. (Luke 11:42) You talk about souls,
evangelism and money, especially tithes; but not about justice, truth and
righteousness, good works or being the Good Samaritan.
For the Moving of the
Holy Spirit and the Love of God are pleasant things but truth, righteousness
and justice are unpleasant things as well as costly. If you did the
latter, you would have found out the truth about what was going on in
Carpenter’s
Furthermore, from the reaction of the different Assembly of God pastors, I do not see bondservants of Jesus Christ; but only kings who preach themselves and are upset that their self made kingdoms are being questioned and are being brought into the open. If the shoe fits it is not my fault! I have written over 100 faxes and letters about the Strader affair alone and told you what will happen and how it will all be brought out into the open; but you chose not to believe me, but to ignore me.
So you only have yourself to blame for the whirlwind which will not pass away until the desired results are achieved; even as a result of what appears to some as “bullish” methods and “arrogance.” But whose arrogance?
God’s Word is true and it says:
“For thus says the
LORD: as one whom his mother comforts,
so I will comfort you; and you shall be comforted in
For behold, the LORD will come with fire and with His chariots, like a whirlwind, to render His anger with fury, and His rebuke with flames of fire. For by fire and by His sword the LORD will judge all flesh; and the slain of the LORD shall be many.” (Isaiah 66:12-16)
On
How the faithful city has become a harlot! It was full of justice; righteousness lodged in it, but now murderers. Your silver has become dross, your wine mixed with water.
Your princes are rebellious, and companions of thieves; everyone loves bribes, And follows after rewards. They do not defend the fatherless, nor does the cause of the widow come before them.
Therefore the Lord says, The LORD of hosts, the Mighty One of Israel, "Ah, I will rid Myself of My adversaries, and take vengeance on My enemies. I will turn My hand against you, and thoroughly purge away your dross, and take away all your alloy.
I will restore your judges as at the first, and your counselors as at the beginning. Afterward you shall be called the city of righteousness, the faithful city."
The destruction of transgressors and of sinners shall be together, and those who forsake the LORD shall be consumed. For they shall be ashamed of the terebinth trees which you have desired; and you shall be embarrassed because of the gardens Which you have chosen. For you shall be as a terebinth whose leaf fades, and as a garden that has no water. The strong shall be as tinder, and the work of it as a spark; both will burn together, and no one shall quench them. (Isaiah 1:16,17,21-31)
What then? Only that in every way, whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is preached; and in this I rejoice, yes, and will rejoice. (Philippians 1:18)
"Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you devour widows' houses, and for a pretense make long prayers. Therefore you will receive greater condemnation. "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you travel land and sea to win one proselyte, and when he is won, you make him twice as much a son of hell as yourselves. Matthew 23:14-15
What
attracted Sandy and I to Carpenter's
Now its true that the word of God teaches that it doesn’t matter how the Word is preached just that it is.” Now the definition of pretense means ‘putting on a false appearance meant to deceive those around you.’ Many evangelical preachers are just that--false teachers who preach from vainglory and for selfish and greedy gain..
When we found out what was actually going on in Carpenter's Home Church and how the sheep were being robbed, raped and even murdered, I wrote numerous letters to all the major prominent TV-evangelists in America and even sent them a copy of my manuscripts on the Strader Affair I especially wrote to every one that I had contributed money in the past; because they had asked me too. So in kind I expected them to now return the favor and look in the Strader Affair for me.
I wrote to real people like Evangelist Benny Hinn, Dr. Bill Graham, Oral and Richard Roberts, Pat Robertson, Stephen Strang, Paul Crouch of the Trinity Broadcasting Network, Evangelist James Robinson. Dr. Billy Bright. Dr., Thomas E. Trask, Dr. Rodney Howard-Browne and others.
But I did not send them just one letter, I literally drowned them with letters, faxes and email about the Strader Affair. So much that I disturbed some of them and its this was evidenced by the return letters from them stating that they would not get involved. They all ran away and hid and were not good Samaritans at all. Even though Jesus said:
"Now by chance a certain priest came down that road. And when he saw him, he passed by on the other side. "Likewise a Levite, when he arrived at the place, came and looked, and passed by on the other side.
"But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was. And when he saw him, he had compassion. "So he went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine; and he set him on his own animal, brought him to an inn, and took care of him.
On the next day, when he departed, he took out two denarii, gave them to the innkeeper, and said to him, 'Take care of him; and whatever more you spend, when I come again, I will repay you.' "So which of these three do you think was neighbor to him who fell among the thieves?" And he said, "He who showed mercy on him." Then Jesus said to him, "Go and do likewise." Luke 10: 31-37
As I started to look into the lives and ministry of these TV-evangelists I found some very common threads. They were respecter of persons, showed partiality, and were very good friends with each other. Even playing golf together on occasions. For after all they were good religious businessmen presidents of a corporation. They even had body guards and luxury cars to make them distinguished from the sheep that they fleeced.
Dr. Rodney Howard Browne in his winter Camp meeting at the USF Sun dome in Tampa Florida in January 1996 preached to the ministers in attendance and told them, when I was there that the sheep had to be fleeced. Otherwise they would have wool in front of their eyes and will not see where they are going.
Speaking of fleecing the Dallas Morning News in a headline " Mailbox ministry Direct-market evangelist brings in millions. Lawyer says it all goes back into his mission of March 10, 1996 on its front page of the home final edition in an article by Howard Swindle and Tim Wyatt Staff Writers of The Dallas Morning News; wrote the following which speaks for itself.
BEL AIR,
As head of Church
By Mail and Church and Bible Study in the Home By Mail, the erstwhile
"This is no
Elmer Gantry kind of preacher," said
Leased surroundings
Records in
In the inner circle of mass media evangelists, Mr. Ewing is known for his marketing savvy. He specializes in creative, direct-mail campaigns that use computer-generated letters and vivid graphics designed to represent a personal appeal. Each mailing is constructed around a creative "hook" which often includes trinkets - from "faith shower caps" and "anointed coin wrappers" to green yarn "faith cards" and brown paper "prayer sheets." The campaigns are usually aimed at healing conditions that range from poverty to prostate cancer.
"{Gene} Ewing's letters are
masterpieces of the con man's art,
containing homespun homilies, fractured grammar and twisted scriptural interpretations that promise divine
intervention in return for contributions,"
said Ole Anthony, president of the nonprofit Trinity Foundation and an avowed critic of
mass-market evangelists. On an average
day, according to Mr. Anthony's group, hundreds of envelopes pour into the
Successful method
An October 1993
memorandum from the Rev. Ray McElrath, a
According to the memo, a computer software program identifies and isolates demographic blocs that respond best to Mr. Ewing's direct-mail appeal. Those contributors, according to an analysis by The Dallas Morning News, come from some of the most poverty-stricken zip codes in the nation. "The size of each special area is about 2 to 4 city blocks," Mr. McElrath wrote, "and thank God there are 10's of thousands of them across the nation."
So effective are the
Two former
members of Oral Roberts' staff credit Mr. Ewing with saving the Roberts ministry from financial ruin in
1968. Mr. Ewing, then an obscure tent-preacher
based in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, created the so-called "
According to former Roberts aide Wayne Robinson, Mr.
Ewing wrote the bulk-mail letter that
Mr. Roberts sent from the
"Gene had {an} intuitive savvy about direct mail that none of your giant agencies would have," said Mr. Robinson, noting Mr. Ewing's ability to appeal to specific groups. "That was basically his peers," he said. "That would be those who hadn't graduated from high school, old people, lonely people, people on the outside, those who weren't being reached by the mainstream churches. And he was extraordinary {at} communicating with African-Americans." Nor was the campaign Mr. Ewing's last for Mr. Roberts.
Another former Roberts associate, who asked not to be identified, said that in 1979, he paid $900,000 to Mr. Ewing, which represented Mr. Ewing's share of one month's direct-mail proceeds. A spokesman for the Oral Roberts Evangelistic Association said the organization would not comment.
Copyright: Copyright 1996 The Dallas Morning News Company
Record Number: 00817*19960310*01308
No wonder many stood in our way, would not help nor support us in seeking and getting true justice, righteousness and truth about the Strader Affair. They in their own way were all perverted from the top to the bottom. Shedding light on perverse and corrupt ministries would bring light on themselves and they did not want this to happen.
But I have learned not to let others perturb me. If they don’t have faith or don’t understand us we must love them, forgive them and pray for them. We are not to be upset with them. For after all they are just dumb sheep.
All we like sheep have gone astray each to our own way. Every man that has ever lived has strayed, save one--Jesus! Having his name is not enough we have to trust in that faith and depend on it because there is power in the Name of Jesus.
For true Christian maturity is when others around us don’t have faith and we are not moved by their lack of belief. We believe in God and trust only in Him and not in them. We believe when the day is dark and the tunnel is black. Believe when the way is not clear and the storm is rolling in great waves, crashing on our shorelines. Then we know if our house will stand. If we built it on the Rock, Jesus Christ, who doesn’t move. He doesn't change. He doesn't stop. He will continue on into eternity because His Word will never fail.
'You shall not steal. You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor. 'You shall not covet your neighbor's wife; and you shall not desire your neighbor's house, his field, his male servant, his female servant, his ox, his donkey, or anything that is your neighbor's.' (Deut 5: 19-21)
Let him who stole steal no longer, but rather let him labor, working with his hands what is good, that he may have something to give him who has need. (Ephesians 4:28)
Men
of God in the Bible such as Daniel, Joseph and Job no matter what they were going through had integrity, honesty,
accountability, convictions and
truthfulness. Well, we saw on satellite, on Trinity Broadcasting Network, a
revival at Carpenter’s Home Church, in
Well, after a few months of attending
Carpenter's
As it turns out somebody was skimming money from the offerings. The pastor's son was arrested and sentenced to forty-five years in jail for stealing around four million dollars from the elderly church members, many of whom belonged to the church and worked faithfully for the pastor. The Pastor and the son stated from the pulpit that it was a frame up, a lie and a conspiracy by the state and former members of the church, which turned out to be a lie.
It was the pastor who had no integrity or accountability, and had rewritten the article of incorporation and policy of the church with his accountant friend, in 1989, after a horrific split of the church to suit himself. The split is another horror story of the perversion of justice by the superintendent of the Assembly of God, who on the orders of his superior did not touch or deal with the Pastor .
The new articles of incorporation, of Carpenter’s
The newspapers were continually writing articles about the Straders, which the Straders including the head pastor, said were all lies, but turned out to be true because former pastors at the church, and victims, became friends of our family and gave us facts about the real truth of what was going on behind the scenes. The senior was paying himself a salary in the range of 200,000 dollars according to his former best friends and associates and had his two daughters, son and son-in-law on the church payroll.
We could never get the real fact of his true salary because of the extreme secrecy he kept concerning it. All of this time a revival was going on in the church with people slain-in-the-Spirit all over the place during the meetings.
This Senior Assembly of God Pastor lived in a 400,000 dollar home, by a lake, plus he owned two new Lincoln Towncars, given to him by others, one for him and one for his wife, and even had body guards to protect him at one time. He seemed to be modeling his corporation after Oral Roberts’ Association, where he was a board member.
Also, according to others, the senior pastor had maid service paid by the church for his home, plus he traveled around the country visiting his friends and charging it all to the corporation of which he was the sole executive.
Dr. Steven Lambert has been an
ordained prophet/teacher and itinerant
speaker in charismatic churches since 1977 speaking out against the wrongs and injustice in the
church in
This was a very important fact of what is referred to in the business world as "inside trading" and was overlooked in the Strader Affair. This way the wolves in sheep's clothing know which sheep have the money and who is to be targeted for being "fleeced" as Dr. Rodney Howard Browne put it or "slaughtered" as Roy Aldrich put it. .
Pastor Jim Ferrell, Pastor Karl
Strader's right hand man, personally
told me and my friend Tom, at the altar of the church one Sunday Morning,
that he was also an investment counselor. Financial Information about the
sheep that Jim could relay to his boss
Karl. Who then was able to advise Dan
Strader which sheep to approach or not approach
for money. That is why Dan Strader in his speech which he
gave from the pulpit of Carpenter’s
This was also one plausible reason why Jim was kept on when better people like Pastor Jack Collins were let go. This special and unique church ministry is very common in super churches. This way the pastor can know who has the money in the Church and act accordingly.
This kind of thievery and lying in
the house of God, as well as the arrogance, pride and rebellious attitude by
this so called man of God, made me sick, so I acted and did something concrete
about it. As a result, it lead me to consider the sins of
To me, the sins of
The Lord who is Holy, asks the impossible of His people to be Holy, to love Him with their whole heart, body, soul and spirit, to put Him first and to love our neighbor as ourselves, which He, as the God of the impossible, wanting to make real in our lives by His Spirit today. The LORD spoke to Moses about His commands saying and His Word has not changed to this very day:
"Speak to all the congregation of the
children of
'Do not turn to idols, nor make for yourselves molded gods: I am the LORD your God. 'And if you offer a sacrifice of a peace offering to the LORD, you shall offer it of your own free will.... 'When you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not wholly reap the corners of your field, nor shall you gather the gleanings of your harvest.
'And you shall not glean your vineyard, nor shall you gather every grape of your vineyard; you shall leave them for the poor and the stranger: I am the LORD your God. 'You shall not steal, nor deal falsely, nor lie to one another. 'And you shall not swear by My name falsely, nor shall you profane the name of your God: I am the LORD.
'You shall not cheat your neighbor, nor rob him. The wages of him who is hired shall not remain with you all night until morning.... You shall do no injustice in judgment. You shall not be partial to the poor, nor honor the person of the mighty. In righteousness you shall judge your neighbor.'
You shall not go about as a talebearer among your people; nor shall you take a stand against the life of your neighbor: I am the LORD. 'You shall not hate your brother in your heart. You shall surely rebuke your neighbor, and not bear sin because of him. 'You shall not take vengeance, nor bear any grudge against the children of your people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself: I am the LORD. 'You shall keep My statutes. (Leviticus 19: 2-19)
Well, Sandy and I arrived in
Do you know what happened? Each person who we called in this directory stole from us, in money and inefficiency. Come to think of it Carpenter’s Home church, my new church, was also listed in that same directory.
The plumber was exorbitant in his rates and requested eight hundred dollars to repair a so called defective hot water heater which turned out only to have the water thermostat set to low. The telephone man took about five days to two weeks to install one phone line in the kitchen, add two jacks and make the security system work, plus he took hundreds of dollars. Many times he said one thing about the costs and charged higher prices. The so called Christian Mechanic wanted to change many things in my car from the radiator to the fuel injectors which I didn’t let him. Ironically, none of the parts were changed and functioned for two years since that time with no problems, but the air-conditioning which he did repair had to be repaired three times and always with new additional costs.
Being quite conservative, I had been taught by my religious
peers to give the benefit of the doubt to the other individual, such as these
Christians business people. Well, I
befriended a Christian gentleman who owned a stationary store. One day
he came to
However, by God’s grace he resurfaced, said that his business went sour and his marriage was over, gave us the money that we loaned him, asked for our prayers and thanked us for being his only friends.
In all of this mess, I called up I complained to the person who issued this Christian Directory of what happened and even wrote a letter with a copy to my Pastor. The lady said that it couldn’t happen because they were all Christians. We stopped using so called Christian companies and began to use large reputable firms who didn’t rip us off but gave excellent service and did things openly.
The ironic part of all these crooks was that the biggest crook ended up being my Pastor. First of all, he was not what he pretended to be, a real man of God but a con artist. Second of all, he and his friend in 1989 when the church had gone through a great fight and split up rewrote the articles of Incorporation.
As a result Karl and Joe were the only executives in the corporation, with real power and control and could do whatever they wanted, being very cruel and malicious in the church to others.
But it was even worst
for poor elderly defenseless sheep, members of Carpenter’s
The sad part was this was a pattern that was going on
through out the Assembly of God in
The
Later, I personally read the sixty-four resolutions the congregation in 1989 brought forward to Pastor Karl Strader, demanding that he and his family change their behavior and attitude to the congregation and to certain prophetic and other practices. He chose to ignore them and cut them out of the body. He chose to place himself above the sheep.
Does this sound like a loving shepherd or a cold hearted wolf. Why is it he alone has power over the governing of the church, its policies, attitudes to sheep and control of the finances. Is it perhaps because of his “love of money?”
This entire attitude on the part of the father, opened the way for the delusions and practices of Daniel Strader to begin his “business practices of taking money from one person to pay off his personal debts or investors.” Where he promised their money would go was not what really happened to the funds.
Dan Strader even in simple insurance transactions, as a Christian, stole money entrusted to him, to pay people’s insurance premiums, by endorsing the checks and keeping the money for personal use. Insurance companies began to complain they weren’t receiving their clients premiums and it came back to Daniel. He was entrusted with a sacred trust—to deal honestly—there is no “mistakes” when one is honest! If one willfully robs one person to give to another, this is thievery, no question about it! It is blatant robbery. He also had his father’s arrogance and pride that he is right and above the law of God and man.
Upon digging a little deeper, I began to realize that Karl Strader has been practicing the very thing his son was doing with his insurance clients and investors. Karl Strader has been taking people’s tithes, given to the Lord’s service, and properly designated to certain ministries and specific purposes, and placed them where he wanted them, not where they were designated to go.
In so doing, he also aroused God’s attention and anger when he began to manipulate and remove intended funds from intended service to the Lord, to cover the church’s indebtedness. This obviously doesn’t honor the Lord but only becomes “lip service,” something Karl Strader became adept at. A pathetically poor example to his children of “mismanagement of money” and double talk, saying one thing to the congregation and doing something totally different.
Sad to me is the documented facts that came out in Daniel’s trial. That Dan’s Strader unlike the claims the Straders made did not have a business. His business was praying with and preying on the elderly. He had robbed not only the investors and insurance clients, he had robbed his children and wife of peace of mind and a sense of security, because their electricity was shown to have been cut off at least fifteen times in the previous year by the electric company due to lack of payment. This is only a small sample of what went on in his practices in paying personal bills and obligations. Not very responsible or loving—even to his own family, is it?!
The bottom line is, men who cannot handle their own behavior or families correctly, with good Christian order and with common respect and decency, should not be leaders of anything—let alone a large Christian church or a business such as Carpenter’s Home Church Incorporated!
This principle applies to all Christian leaders! We are all accountable: first to God, second to our spouses and children, and third to fellow believers and other people. We must all pay the piper! Sorry, no exceptions!
We have a firm responsibility to teach accountability to our children, both to God and man! It is irresponsible to allow a child to believe there are no consequences for their actions and all will be forgiven and covered by “God’s love.” This is only true, the Bible says, if we meet God’s conditions of holding to his truths, unwaveringly and with deep fear of what He could do if He so chose!
God is still ultimately Sovereign! He chose to allow Job to suffer though he had done nothing to deserve it! God is God! I know he is not blind to all man does. He does Judge. Jesus’ sacrifice brought judgment. As he said to me today on the subject of love, it not only means being gentle and kind, it brings accountability and judgment. If we’re not sure we’ve crossed over the line into judgment and wrong doing we need to humble ourselves before God and man and examine ourselves lest we become judged for our behavior and suffer the consequences as Dan did.
When Karl and Daniel were told by God they were wrong they didn’t obey His voice, it is because they never learned to truly “listen to His still small voice and obey Him? They also thought the vessels of his warnings were unimportant and of no consequence—Christian people—not of high positions or great wealth. Simple people, whom they had learned not to respect.
They could not recognize when a man of God had been sent to them, to redirect them and give deeply important warnings. They didn’t have true spiritual discernment. They couldn’t hear, they couldn’t see. Is this not also Biblical? God stopped men’s ears and blinded men’s eyes?
The evidence speaks for itself: a broken church, many hurt and damaged Christian lives, some actually having died from heartbreak, the theft of thousands of dollars not belonging to the Straders, be it in tithes or investments, the Gospel of Christ trampled and disgraced, control and manipulation of lives in the Name of God and without compassion.
One son in prison, another sent around the country to minister elsewhere because he is a liability due to his attitudes and behavior, and a daughter who begs other pastors to help displace her father to place her husband in her dad’s pastoral position. How Christian! How loving! What a wonderful example of right Christian living! How happy I am not to follow or be fooled anymore by such a wicked example!
Thomas Jefferson put it aptly: “You can fool some of the people some of the time, and you can fool some of the people all of the time, but you can’t fool All the people All of the time.” Not all of the facts have been exposed. Does it matter any more? Hasn’t what has been exposed shed enough light about the ugly truth? Or, does God want all of it seen in the light of day because His Word says, all of what is hidden in the dark will be seen in the light and dealt with? All I know is, let God be true and every man a liar!
Well, what has this all to do
with
And
Sodom was well watered everywhere
like the garden of the Lord and naturally Lot, typical of the children of
flesh, chose to live there while Abraham, typical of children of the Spirit,
took the remaining land after his disagreement with Lot. However, the men of
And the LORD said, "Shall I hide from Abraham what I am doing, since Abraham shall surely become a great and mighty nation, and all the nations of the earth shall be blessed in him? For I have known him, in order that he may command his children and his household after him, that they keep the way of the LORD, to do righteousness and justice, that the LORD may bring to Abraham what He has spoken to him.”
And the LORD said, "Because the outcry against Sodom
and Gomorrah is great, and because their sin is very grave, "I will go down now and see whether they
have done altogether according to the outcry against it that has come to Me;
and if not, I will know. Then the men
turned away from there and went toward
Now we see that Abraham was
righteous, God knew him to keep His ways
and to do righteousness and justice, while the men in
"Blind Pharisee, first cleanse the inside of
the cup and dish, that the outside of them may be clean.(Matthew
Now in psychiatry, there is a hypothesis that if a patient can define a problem, there is not a problem with the patient and he doesn’t need to be treated.
However, when a patient doesn’t see and understand the problem,
then the patient needs to be treated and
there is a real problem. This goes along with what the Lord says about his
blind servant, and unfortunately, in
"Hear, you deaf; and look, you blind, that you may see. Who is blind but My servant, or deaf as My messenger whom I send? Who is blind as he who is perfect, and blind as the LORD'S servant? Seeing many things, but you do not observe; Opening the ears, but he does not hear."
The LORD is well pleased for His righteousness' sake; He will exalt the law and make it honorable. But this is a people robbed and plundered; All of them are snared in holes, and they are hidden in prison houses; they are for prey, and no one delivers; for plunder, and no one says, "Restore!" Who among you will give ear to this? Who will listen and hear for the time to come? (lsaiah 42:18-23)
As I thought about what God’s Word says about us, I asked
the question what else is wrong with Christian men in
Yes, there are religious works of Evangelism and Worship and even wonderful words of trust in the Lord, but as a Senator wrote to me concerning the Strader Affair, “Unfortunately, we no longer live in a time or world where a person’s word or a simple handshake can provoke trust between people.”
In others words, a man’s word is worth nothing and his
handshake is more worthless, and yet at
the same time, they are doing real wrong and evil deeds. As Christians in
Well, my critics, as critics do, would say I am critical, bitter, pluralistic and definitely wrong. No, I am not critical or bitter because I forgave everybody, but I just applied the Standard in the Word of God concerning having a Christian Character of honesty, decency, hard work, faithfulness, good works and deeds, accountability, and action and not just the fruits of the spirit of love, peace and joy and found that most so called Christian people fail the test.
My critics will say
the test is impossible, what do you want? No, it is not impossible for
we serve the God of the Impossible, for Joseph who became second to Pharaoh in
It’s because we haven’t examined ourselves and have fallen short of what God is able to do in us and for us or its because we are so busy with our agenda and doing the things of God that we have missed His agenda? Good Christian Character and not only the gifts, ministries and fruits of the Spirit are on the top of God’s Agenda. Or is it because we have become lazy, selfish or corrupt and don’t care about it and are indifferent? Whatever the reason it is still wrong and not right.
The truth is that today in this society and this generation, there is no real distinction between Christian and non Christian in that they lie, steal, are dishonorable, twist things around, are not faithful to their word nor their family nor their children, are not diligent and not accountable for their deeds to anybody, but they are congenial, smiling and soft spoken just like con artists.
All con artists on the surface are wonderful people or they couldn’t con anybody, if they showed their real character and purposes. So what we see in them is not what is there most of the time anyway, and many Christians are con artists because we have conned ourselves first and then others, but we can never con God. He knows and sees us as we really are, that’s why He judges by the Heart of a man, He knows man’s true intentions.
Again my critics say I am being too negative, asking the impossible and I am washing the linen in public. The truth of the matter is I am being honest, positive and not asking for the possible about things that the public is more than aware about us as Christians. Problems must be first defined as existing before a cure can be found and applied.
We as the Lord’s people in
For your hands are defiled with blood, and your fingers with iniquity; your lips have spoken lies, your tongue has muttered perversity. No one calls for justice, nor does any plead for truth. They trust in empty words and speak lies; they conceive evil and bring forth iniquity...their works are works of iniquity, and the act of violence is in their hands. Their feet run to evil, and they make haste to shed innocent blood; their thoughts are thoughts of iniquity; wasting and destruction are in their paths. The way of peace they have not known, and there is no justice in their ways; they have made themselves crooked paths; Whoever takes that way shall not know peace. ...
We look for justice, but there is none; ... Justice is turned back, and righteousness stands afar off; for truth is fallen in the street, and equity cannot enter. So truth fails, and he who departs from evil makes himself a prey. (Isaiah 59:3-15)
The solution is given by the Lord as follows:
Then the LORD saw it, and it displeased Him that there was no justice. He saw that there was no man, and wondered that there was no intercessor; therefore His own arm brought salvation for Him; and His own righteousness, it sustained Him. For He put on righteousness as a breastplate, and a helmet of salvation on His head; He put on the garments of vengeance for clothing, and was clad with zeal as a cloak.
According to their deeds, accordingly He will repay, Fury to His adversaries, Recompense to His enemies; the coastlands He will fully repay. So shall they fear The name of the LORD from
the west, and His glory from the rising
of the sun; when the enemy comes in like
a flood, The Spirit of the LORD will
lift up a standard against him. "The
Redeemer will come to
In other words, God Himself will move in our midst He will
judge and the Holy Spirit will set up a Standard, the Redeemer will come to
Zion, and to those who turn from
transgression in Jacob, but the key word besides “He will repay” is the word “Standard.” The Standard to be set
by the Holy Spirit against “the enemy” the devil will be righteousness, justice and truth in
our lives and character as Christians once again in
For many Christians in
The truth is that we are being persecuted by the world for acting and living like the world even though we call ourselves Christians. When we really begin to act and behave like Christians, the world will even honor and respect us, even if they don’t agree with us but they will see the glory of the Lord upon us because of our real character and His Holiness. The truth of the matter is we aren’t holy people especially in our character.
Some would say “How is this possible to bring back
character, honesty and integrity to Christians in
Otherwise, until then, there will continue to be scandals in
the body of Christ in
“What does the LORD your God require of you, but to fear the LORD your God, to walk in all His ways and to love Him, to serve the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul, and to keep the commandments of the LORD and His statutes which I command you today for your good? Indeed heaven and the highest heavens belong to the LORD your God, also the earth with all that is in it. “ (Deut 10:11)
God’s Word to us is true” I will execute judgment: I am the
LORD” (Exodus 12:12) So awe must turn from our wicked ways and ask Him to
change us individually and collectively even today. Then the Lord will say of
us what He said of Abraham:
For I have known him, in order that he may command his children and his household after him, that they keep the way of the LORD, to do righteousness and justice, that the LORD may bring to Abraham what He has spoken to him. (Genesis 18:19)
The Ledger
One
less to listen
After serving six months of a 45-year prison sentence, Daniel Strader apparently has come up with a theme for his book The basis of it, he said last week in an interview, "will be the conspiracy angle of the trial, things that led up to the demise of the company "
Six months into his prison term, Strader, 37, still
blames others for his downfall-- and for his separating 27 victims, mostly
elderly, from 3 million of their savings. Strader was the president of
Interstate Financial Services and the son of a prominent
''The perception people were given is that I stole money from my clients and diverted it to my personal use," said Strader "But that is not the case " The state's case, presented over the course of a five week trial, was more believable to a jury. Strader, who had worked out a plea bargain, changed his mind and decided to tell his story to a jury. Jurors didn’t believe him, and convicted him of 238 counts of racketeering, securities fraud and grand theft.
It was ironic that on the same day that the article about Strader still proclaiming he was railroaded on 238 charges, a story ran about one of his former clients.
Roy Aldrich, 65, of
“I really believe that probably was a major cause of his
death," said Aldrich’s wife, Patricia, of
''The betrayal aspect of lt. really bothered him, and the fact that there was no admission of guilt "
Perhaps one day Strader will realize what Judge Robert Doyel meant when he sentenced Strader "The psychological and financial devastation wreaked by this defendant is enormous.” Unfortunately, should that day of confession come, with the death of Roy Aldrich last week, there will be one less to listen.
Bar on Race-Based Enrollment Stands reported the Washington
Post on
But does it signal a new era in America when constitutional guarantee of equal protection of the laws are upheld over the collective rights of a specific group be it a minority group based on race or religion?
Recently a federal court ruled that Church workers and clergy can be sued for sexual harassment. The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals overturned a lower court's decision that religious institutions are protected from discrimination lawsuits filed by their employees, news reports said.
Courts traditionally have held that churches and other religious organizations have the right to choose ministers and interpret doctrine without government intrusion. The circuit court reversed that trend with its 3-0 decision. "There is no danger that, by allowing this suit to proceed, we will thrust the secular courts into the constitutionally untenable position of passing judgment on questions of religious faith or doctrine," Judge William Fletcher wrote.
The ruling reinstates a suit by John Bollard, a former
Jesuit seminarian, against the California Providence of the Catholic order. He
says that a dozen priests sent him pornographic cards, invited him to gay bars,
and made sexual advances during his 5-year stay at a
The justices rejected an appeal by
The justices' action, while setting no national precedent, reinforces the court's recent trend of signaling an end to the era of special consideration for racial minorities to compensate for past segregation and increase opportunities.
In recent terms, the court has let stand lower court rulings against university programs that give preference to blacks over whites and has struck down public contracting programs intended to give minority applicants a boost.
Yesterday's order came in the case of a white student whose
family sued the
But the prominent
religious ones in
I recently wrote to such
a religious one who was offended by my web site attacking the evangelists and
pastors in
"We have no King's in
Now the American
Heritage dictionary defines Freedom, even religious freedom, as
free·dom (fr¶“d…m) n. 1. The condition of being free of
restraints. 2.
This freedom includes
exemption or liberation from the control of some other person or some arbitrary
power and exemption from arbitrary
restrictions on a specified civil right; civil or political liberty. It also
includes openness of Government be it political or religious. For Government
secrecy is a threat to a free society.
The only time secrecy is
acceptable is when it protects the security of the nation. Otherwise, what a
government does or even a denomination does
should be available to all so that its citizens and members may make
informed decisions.
The same should be true
and applied to the religious world in
People such as those at
Oral Roberts University who talks about the Holy Spirit and Freedom that it
gives and then they try to take it away from others through deceit and lies
because they are being threatened and exposed for being false ones and
hypocrites. These religious ones should go back and read their own bible
including Matthew 25, the Bill of Rights and the First Amendment of the
Constitution to see what they are doing is wrong.
All of this is ironic
because this is what I wrote others
about the injustices that their members Roy and Patricia Aldrich
suffered at the hands of self appointed Kings such as the Strader's. For as a
result of my in-depth investigation, researching, and findings, which are
summarized in my book the Strader Affair, I also wrote to the General
Superintendent of the Assembly of God in
1) Membership by
individual Churches with the Assembly of God should not be only based on
Scriptural beliefs and adherence. It should also not be permanent thing.
2) Membership by
individual Churches must be tied to open financial accountability, code of
ethics, and membership Bill of rights. A Church's constitution and by-laws
should be reviewed to see if it falls in the Standards set by the General
Council of the Assembly of God (The American constitution and States rights,
are a good example and basis to begin.)
3) Each Individual
church should be reviewed every five years to see if it complies with these new
rules. This is something that any wise organization will do and will not affect
the autonomy of each church.
4) A procedure must
be set up to handle unresolved complaints whereby a church does not need to be
destroyed nor a full scale war arise between members just like it happened in
1989 at Carpenter's Home Church and in 1995.
There must be a
mechanism whereby an individual's complaints and serious allegations and charges,
just like Patricia's and Roy Aldrich, do not have to get into a newspaper to
have it brought to everybody's attention but rather dealt with by some wise
men, to everybody's satisfaction.
Otherwise, it
should be dealt with by the General Council of the Assembly of God. When an individual church is warned that
its membership from the Assembly of God, might be revoked, you may rest assured
that the church's membership will deal with any serious charges and allegations.
I am sure that some
wise men filled with the Holy Ghost and wisdom from above, could carefully and
intelligently, look into this whole matter and see that it doesn't happen again
in any other Assembly of God church. A new principle, method, and procedure,
will have then been established by the General Council of Assembly of God, to
deal with such situations, in the future.
Of course, since I was
not an Assembly of God minister and especially a prominent one, such as Pastor
Karl Strader of Carpenter's Home Church, with real social connections, such
as being married into the prominent Wead
family, who were influential in AOG, they never bothered to reply to this or subsequent letters about
the Strader Affair.
Why should they, because
as Karl would say and act: "They were someone special, appointed and
anointed of God for a special work, that he was required to do?" As the
prophet Ezekiel wrote of them and their work:
"You eat the fat and clothe yourselves with the wool; you slaughter the fatlings, but you do not feed the flock. "The weak you have not strengthened, nor have you healed those who were sick, nor bound up the broken, nor brought back what was driven away, nor sought what was lost; but with force and cruelty you have ruled them. "So they were scattered because there was no shepherd; and they became food for all the beasts of the field when they were scattered. "My sheep wandered through all the mountains, and on every high hill; yes, My flock was scattered over the whole face of the earth, and no one was seeking or searching for them." (Ezekiel 34:3-6)
Yet, sadly God’s people don’t even receive from their Lord and God. They are not in tune with Him and they can’t hear Him. They talk much about having a spiritual ear to listen to Heaven. They are very proud of their accomplishment. Then why is it true that they have not heard Him when God called them to do justice?
Why didn’t they hear Him when He told them they were in trouble—that trouble what coming their way. Yet, they did not understand the signs of the clouds and the winds gathering around them. They did not interpret the signs correctly. They assumed everything was persecution, forgetting to hear from God and receive His open rebuke as well as His blessings.
Yes, God blessed and desires to bless His people. But, they must listen and obey His rebuke as well. They are not perfect though they are in His service and they are not to assume they are above the law. If one of their own has fallen and ignores God’s warnings then it is only fair that the others must do the unpleasant thing and do what’s right—rebuking their brother and dealing with the circumstance. It is not an option to do God’s Word.
It is a privilege to know God and not a right! Something that many of His Children have quickly forgotten over the years. They think because they thought something it makes everything right. It doesn’t. Wrong is wrong and God demand justices. Justice will be served though long in coming! It is on the way and all who opposed it’s coming will be destroyed in the wake of it.
God will avenge His fallen son! He will not go without justice though now he is with Him. There are many who cry from the grave for justice. The land, though no one has raised a gun, runs red with the blood of God’s fallen sheep. Victims of wrong teachings, false prophets and pride.
Those who call God their leader and friend should also know Him as Warrior and King! He is the great Avenger of the earth. No one is greater than Him. Let all men be a liar and God be true. The enemy is being destroyed from this land. God will vanquish every enemy and every weakling who would not do what He has called them to do—justice, righteous and truth.
Give no offense, either to the Jews or to the Greeks or
to the
We give no offense in anything, that our ministry may not be blamed. 2 Corinthians 6:3
Mrs. Clinton while she was in the White House wrote a book and because of her position to the President who is still in office she gave all her profits away. For there is a law or principle in the land that those who serve public office can not use their positions for personal advantages or gain.
They are also financially accountable as well with others who serve the public and have to put their businesses and corporations into a blind trust. They can not use their public positions to profit their businesses until they leave or resign from office then they can make all the profit they want through their own hard work and efforts.
In Hillsborough County Daniel Kleman is one of the hardest working public officials working
almost 24 hours a day seven days a week. His salary is around
$ 100,000 and those of his bosses the
The President of United States makes around $ 225,000 and is probably the highest paid public official. So the rule has been established that those in public life whose income comes from the public are financial accountable and can not profit by their office and this is true of most non profit organizations such as the Red Cross.
Well on the CNN Impact Sunday Show of March 16, 1997 when questioned by CNN. Evangelist Benny Hinn had failed to provide for six months to CNN the promised financial statements of his ministry.
Benny Hinn admitted that he made more money than the President of United States around $ 500,000 to $ 1,000,000. Personal profit which came to him as a result of love offerings, tithes and financial support given by the public and for which he and his friends refuse to give financial accountability while they hold others accountable for their spiritual state.
Now If Benny Hinn wants to make a million dollars a year honestly, let him resign from the ministry and go to the private sector and do it. He and others are not entitled to make money from inside trading and complicity from their positions in the ministries.
If Benny wants to become a book writer and make money from his books let him leave the ministry and become a private individual. There is no justification under heaven and before God in becoming rich off the gifts and love offerings of God's people.
Yet the Evangelical Council of Financial Accountability will not give us the salaries of their members and public servants such as Southern Baptist Evangelist Franklin Graham, Jerry Falwell, Bill Bright, Luis Paula and Pat Robertson and those of their families members and special friends. So who knows what is going on there? An honest man has nothing to fear while dishonest men hide things. For as Jesus said:
"And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. "For everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed. "But he who does the truth comes to the light, that his deeds may be clearly seen, that they have been done in God." John 3:19-21
In simple truth men love darkness because their deeds are
evil. Those who practice evil hate the light and do no bring things into the
light lest their deeds be exposed. It is a fact that robing, raping and
murdering people in the House of God in
Salaries are important and not just financial statements is because with out them, the public and donors such as my self do not have a true picture of what is going in any evangelical ministry, organization or Church.
For CNN aired on
Financial statements alone of the Jimmy Swaggart Evangelistic Association do not reveal the fact that Jimmy Swaggart, his wife and his son, earn over six hundred thousand dollars in annual salaries and drive a fleet of six Mercedes Benz. Even though Jimmy Swaggart lied on camera when questioned by CNN about his salary. Jimmy stated he was not really drawing a salary although IRS records showed otherwise.
It is a very sad state when prominent TV Evangelists such as Jimmy Swaggart who can shout, dance and preach better than the rest of them lie about their salaries and hide them. In addition the Financial statements of JSEA do not reveal that Jimmy Swaggart Ministry loaned Jimmy 4.2 million dollars to build his fancy estate.
Why is it important to know the
salaries of religious leaders? The downfall of Evangelist Rex Humbard says why.
From its modest $65 beginning, the
Rex Humbard Ministry was now worth millions. And was all paid for by private
contributions. Still, like those of many of his fellow television colleagues,
Rex's ministry appeared ever on the brink of bankruptcy. On his
Humbard's appeals brought in $4
million and wiped out the debt. About the same time, a Cleveland Press writer
discovered that Rex and two of his sons, who work with him on the television
ministry, had purchased a home and condominiums in
A lot of people have long believed
that preachers, especially the evangelical variety, have their hands in the
offering plate. In light of this belief, the timing of Humbard's corporate debt
and personal investment certainly didn't make him look very good. And he didn't
help his own cause any when he told the prying Press reporter, "My people
don't give a hoot what I spend that money for
But people do give a hoot how much
money their favorite minister steals and that is why ministers especially
prominent ones hide their salaries. As a result of Rex Humbard's thievery his
ministry folded because people and even God does not like crooks in the House
of God. Evangelist Benny Hinn, who is a personal friend of Rex Humbard and
stated that his salary is a personal and private matter when the salary and
income of the President Bill Clinton is not.
But County Chief Circuit Judge Susan Schaeffer who sentenced Dr. Henry J. Lyons to a five and a half year prison terms for his real crimes said it very well in her words that she was ``flabbergasted'' to learn that the ``National Baptist Convention philosophy'' allowed Lyons to spend Sunday church donations on lavish homes, jewelry and cars.
She also told
My father is more humble,
approachable,'' Derek Lyons said. ``It's clear that my father is a changed
man.'' Yes, Lying Lyons is not the arrogant proud religious Baptist leader
leader who approved the National Baptist Convention advertisement which labeled
Florida `the most racist state'' in the union and called for racial unrest in
the black community of St. Petersburg, the same community rocked by two riots
in late 1996.
For in the summer of summer 97
Rev. Henry Lyons returned from his love-in with the butchering dictators of
Man is always right in his own eyes. But if it is not right for a public servant like the mayor, the country administrator, senator, congress men and the President of United States to hide their salaries, it is not right for God's servants like Benny Hinn, Bill Bright, Richard Roberts, Karl Strader, Rodney Howard Browne and their friends to hide theirs.
God's true servants have a higher standard than that of the world other wise they are hypocrites. If a person wants to make money in public service or in the service of the Lord let him become president of a private company and let them make money the true and hard way like many others.
Private corporations are not accountable and their salaries can be private. But there is no such thing in non profit religious organizations they are accountable to the public and their salaries are not private. Otherwise they are thieves, money changers and wolves in sheep’s clothing who have turned the house of God the house of prayer into a den of thieves.
Paul D. Nelson
President
Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability
200041 0456
Subject Financial Statements of Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, Campus Crusade for Christ, the Christian
Broadcasting Network, The Assembly of God, Kenneth Copeland and
Dear Mr. Nelson,
Who is blind but My servant, Or deaf as My messenger whom I send? Who is blind as he who is perfect, And blind as the LORD'S servant? Isaiah 42:19
I received today
Also for the record, my research showed me that most
Evangelical ministries in
Obviously Joel B. Aarsvold VP of finance must be blind and did not properly read nor understand my letter. While Campus Crusade for Christ did and sent me five financial statements. I did note as I had expected for a family run Ministry that Billy Graham and his son were both officers of the company. Nothing new there! Just like Mr. and Mrs. Bright. The congressional Gold medal and accolades given to Billy and Ruth Graham did not impress me as my concern is more as to what they did and did not do for the poor defenseless elderly who were robbed and raped in the house of God. Seeing how blind the VP was in responding to my request I guess I should not be surprised at the blindness of Evangelical Leaders like Dr. Billy Graham.
Glancing at the financial report for 1996, the gross
revenue of $ 259,204, 478 for general
ministries and the Cover, puts BGEA
slightly ahead of Campus Crusade for Christ. What doesn’t make sense to
me that only $ 1,137,913 is shown as salaries and wages and $ 1,449,466 for
pension funds while Campus Crusade for Christ amount is around 133 million. For
the record Carpenter’s
The bottom line for me is that I still do not know the gross salaries of
this family ministry nor do I have the financial statements for 1987-90 to
determine what happened there. As you have stated yourself sex, power and money
corrupts even the best of religious men and with all that is going on in the
house of God in
"And the King will answer and say to them,
'Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these
My brethren, you did it to
But I guess people like myself and those who were robbed
raped and murdered in the house of God in
Regards
Walter Kambulow
"For false Christ’s and false prophets will rise and show great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect. (Matthew 24:24)
In
the early Seventies, during the “God is dead” movement, Dr. John W. Montgomery
came into prominence. He was and is a renowned Biblical scholar with numerous
degrees and an obvious brilliant mind, and a “who’s who” in
Ironically, later on Bishop Pike
died on a trip to a desert where he actually got lost. Amazing! Dr. Montgomery,
a brilliant Christian man of unusual intelligence and knowledge of the Bible,
matched by few in our lifetime, was vicious and even to the point of cruel,
when he debated Bishop Pike in an open forum. Later,
His critics were upset and protested at how he destroyed Bishop Pike during the debate. Even though God’s word states that they should be destroyed:
He shall strike the earth with the rod of His mouth, And with the breath of His lips He shall slay the wicked. Isaiah 11:4
But there were also false prophets among the people, even as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Lord who bought them, and bring on themselves swift destruction. 2 Peter 2:1
I was to have the privilege of meeting Dr. John Montgomery when he came to our university for a week of Evangelism. It was sponsored by the university’s Inter-Varsity Christian Fellowship club where I was on the executive committee. I personally asked John the following question, “As a Christian how could you do what you did to Bishop Pike?” He answered, “Easily, and I would gladly do it again to anyone who was a false prophet and had hurt and deceived so many people.”
Well, these are my sentiments exactly about deceived Jim Bakker, Henry J. Lyons and Billy Graham who called themselves--a Man of God. A real Man of God doesn’t lie, steal, is not cowardly or fearful, because he is truthful, bold and full of courage. These things are done by those who belong to the other family and not to God’s family.
Those who walk in the flesh will demonstrate the works of
the flesh adultery, fornication,
uncleanness, lewdness, idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies,
outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, envy, murders,
drunkenness, revelries, and the like. Those who practice such things will not
inherit the
For on the Web in November 1999 Southern Baptist Evangelist Billy Graham stood by his divorced and defrocked son Ned, the youngest of five children, who had serious personal problems and troubles with his ministry even though Ned Graham actions and deeds were totally against everything Jesus Christ taught and preached.
"I would like to take this opportunity to say that Ruth and I are proud of and grateful to God for our son Ned and his ministry, East Gates," stated Graham "Our family is in the best position to understand these issues (the works of the Flesh), and Ned has our full confidence and support," Billy and Ruth Graham said in a letter published in Christianity Today.
But
In a style reminiscent of Jimmy Swaggart, who refused to be defrocked by the Assembly of God denomination, Ned Graham left that congregation for another church.
Obviously self-control, faithfulness and gentleness are lacking in Ned Graham's life for those who are Christ's have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. Ned Graham and the Graham's including Billy cannot be living and walking in the Spirit if they are conceited and proud of the way their son turned out. This is definitely evil teaching and examples from which Christians need to be delivered from and not proud of?
Somewhere along the line Billy Graham went into selfish ambitions, dissensions, and heresies when he justified and supported the works of the flesh rather than the fruit of the Spirit in his son's life. Ignoring the fact that the fruit of the Spirit is demonstrated not only by love, joy, peace, longsuffering, and kindness but also by goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.
At the annual meeting of the National Baptist Convention in 1998, the Rev. Henry Lyons of St. Petersburg, former President of the National Baptist Convention and personal friend of President Bill Clinton, admitted to an ``inappropriate relationship'' - an increasingly popular euphemism for adultery - with a woman employed by the nation's largest black church group. He said he was sorry and asked for forgiveness and they forgave him.
Rev. Henry Lyons saw his troubles begin in July 1997 with
arson at a home he is alleged to have owned with a woman other than his
wife. After a series of reports by the
St. Petersburg Times and an investigation by state prosecutors,
Later lying
Rev. Bob Moorehead, the senior Evangelical pastor of the
Washington's state's largest church of the 5,000-member Overlake Christian
resigned amid allegations he fondled male parishioners and the news that he was
arrested three years ago on a morals charge in Florida to which he pleaded
guilty. Overlake, a nondenominational evangelical church founded in 1968, moved
in December into a $37 million, 241,000-square-foot complex in a
The pastor of the state's largest church resigned amid
allegations he fondled male parishioners and the news that he was arrested
three years ago on a morals charge in
Rev. Bob Moorehead saying he was innocent before he was to be exposed by the investors pending report was really quite sad and pathetic. It seems that over the last twenty years he had fondled many men and ten people have come forward to accuse the senior pastor
Now the bible records for our profit and instruction:
"Nevertheless I have a few things against you, because you allow that woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess, to teach and seduce My servants to commit sexual immorality and eat things sacrificed to idols. Revelations 2:20
The significance of Jezebel was that she was not a prophetess, but simply called herself one. There is a difference when one is chosen by God, and not by men, to be a prophet and a man of God. King Saul, like Karl Strader, Jim Bakker and Billy Graham were chosen by men and not by God, and God regretted it later and proceeded to change the situation.
Prophet Samuel, spoke to the High Priest Eli and King Saul about their kingdoms, and spoke truth that applies today:
Then a man of God came to Eli and said to him, "Thus says the LORD:
'Did I not clearly reveal Myself to the house of your
father when they were in
'Why do you kick at My sacrifice and My offering which I have commanded in My dwelling place, and honor your sons more than Me, to make yourselves fat with the best of all the offerings of Israel My people?'
"Therefore the LORD God of
'Behold, the days are coming that I will cut off your arm
and the arm of your father's house, so that there will not be an old man in
your house. 'And you will see an enemy
in My dwelling place, despite all the good which God does for
'Now this shall be a sign to you that will come upon your two sons, on Hophni and Phinehas: in one day they shall die, both of them.: 'Then I will raise up for Myself a faithful priest who shall do according to what is in My heart and in My mind. I will build him a sure house, and he shall walk before My anointed forever.
'And it shall come to pass that everyone who is left in your house will come and bow down to him for a piece of silver and a morsel of bread, and say, "Please, put me in one of the priestly positions, that I may eat a piece of bread." ' " (1 Samuel 2:27-36)
And Samuel said to Saul, "You have done foolishly.
You have not kept the commandment of the LORD your God, which He commanded you.
For now the LORD would have established your kingdom over
"But now your kingdom shall not continue. The LORD has sought for Himself a man after His own heart, and the LORD has commanded him to be commander over His people, because you have not kept what the LORD commanded you." (I Samuel 13:13-14)
So Samuel said to him, "The LORD has torn the
There are many prominent pastors and evangelists in
Well, years ago there was another great King who ruled the know world, King Nebuchadnezzar, but something awful happened to this King, that convinced him he ought to worship and praise the King of Heaven. The Word of God records his testimony as follows:
At the end of the twelve months he was walking about the
royal
While the word was still in the king's mouth, a voice fell from heaven: "King Nebuchadnezzar, to you it is spoken: the kingdom has departed from you! And they shall drive you from men, and your dwelling shall be with the beasts of the field. They shall make you eat grass like oxen; and seven times shall pass over you, until you know that the Most High rules in the kingdom of men, and gives it to whomever He chooses."
That very hour the word was fulfilled concerning Nebuchadnezzar; he was driven from men and ate grass like oxen; his body was wet with the dew of heaven till his hair had grown like eagles' feathers and his nails like birds' claws.
And at the end of the time I, Nebuchadnezzar, lifted my eyes to heaven, and my understanding returned to me; and I blessed the Most High and praised and honored Him who lives forever: for His dominion is an everlasting dominion, and His kingdom is from generation to generation. All the inhabitants of the earth are reputed as nothing; He does according to His will in the army of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth. No one can restrain His hand Or say to Him, "What have You done?"
At the same time my reason returned to me, and for the glory of my kingdom, my honor and splendor returned to me. My counselors and nobles resorted to me, I was restored to my kingdom, and excellent majesty was added to me.
Now I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise and extol and honor the King of heaven, all of whose works are truth, and His ways justice. And those who walk in pride He is able to put down. (Daniel 4:29-37)
Well, this king learned his lesson, especially about those
who walk in pride and arrogance. Maybe it is time that other Kings in
Unfortunately, God forgives us for our sins, but he doesn’t necessarily forgive the consequences of our sins, and ‘whatsoever a man sows so shall he reap’ applies equally to us, and to our pastors and evangelists.
"Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal; "but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. "For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
"The lamp of the body is the eye. If therefore your eye is good, your whole body will be full of light. "But if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in you is darkness, how great is that darkness!
"No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon. Matthew 6:19-24
Now Jesus clearly told His true ones not to lay up for themselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal. But they were to lay it up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal.
They were to use the resources and riches of earth for the
furtherance of God’s Kingdom and not their own.
They were not to serve God and mammon but were to seek first the
Now godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out. And having food and clothing, with these we shall be content. But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and harmful lusts which drown men in destruction and perdition. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, for which some have strayed from the faith in their greediness, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.
But you, O man of God, flee these things and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, gentleness. Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, to which you were also called and have confessed the good confession in the presence of many witnesses. 1 Timothy 6;6-12
Well it seems that many of God’s so called servants have though they were the exceptions to the commands of God and have tried to serve both God and mammon. They had their foot in the word’s camp and in God’s camp and hoped He had never notice their betrayal.
For the sons of Eli, the high priest of
Southern Baptist Chairman Ollin Collins resigned amid sexual misconduct allegations when he was accused of having sexual relationships with two women who sought counseling. An adultery which was more hideous and gross because Collins raped unsuspecting trusting women while, Lyons adulterous relationships just like Bill Clinton's were consensual.
Many, many religious leaders in
Some 13,000 Baptist Foundation of Arizona investors were shocked last month to learn that the financially troubled BFA froze more than $500 million of investors' money to prevent a "run on the bank." As a result elderly investors were deprived of money to pay mortgages and grocery bills by BFA
BFA's unexpected freeze on funds left in a lurch hundreds of elderly investors who'd entrusted their life savings to BFA. Deprived of money to pay mortgages and grocery bills, the oldsters wondered how they'd survive.
Now the Arizona Southern Baptist Convention, which has long promoted BFA and its foolish investment schemes to ministers and churchgoers alike, has stepped in to help with the "Arizona Southern Baptist Convention Jerusalem Fund."
The name comes from the Apostle Paul's "experience
raising money in
"Our focus will be on those who cannot pay for their housing, utilities, food and medical expenses, and who have exhausted all other possible resources before submitting a grant application. You are encouraged to negotiate with your creditors regarding debts that can be deferred, such as certain types of credit and tax payments. Proof of your urgent need must be submitted with all applications," the letter says.
"How much can be granted? Just what is absolutely necessary, subject to availability of funds. We can't be more specific at this time," the letter says, adding a thinly veiled solicitation: "The Jerusalem Fund needs your help to make this effort successful."
So what's the response of the Southern Baptist community?
BFA investor David Mullins fired off an angry email to the Southern Baptist Convention: "Your audacity to solicit your former victims is an insult to our intelligence. I'd like to see the personal financial portfolios of your cronies who fleeced the Christian community via the BFA. What contributions have you received from them? . . . May God forgive me if I'm mistaken about you, but my support now goes directly to those in need."
Many elderly BFA investors have other things besides
lawsuits to occupy their time. After their life savings were frozen by BFA
earlier in August, some investors have been forced to take extraordinary steps
to support themselves. Former retiree Ann Cacace is one such elderly investor.
At a time when she thought her life was more financially secure than it had
ever been, the
Ann's husband, Joseph, 80, a retired upholsterer, is also looking for a job even though his hands, severely crippled by arthritis, prevent him from working at his chosen trade. After BFA froze her family's life savings -- about $100,000 -- Ann Cacace got a job as a "floater" at a large insurance company. She moves from office to office as a temporary salesperson. It is not unusual for her to work 12 hours a day. She is not in good health; she has survived two bouts of cancer and her knees are bad.
Nevertheless, Ann Cacace applied for a full-time position, but says she was passed over by the company in favor of younger workers who "could get around better" and were more skilled with computers.
Having experienced the Great Depression, the Cacaces had
always been frugal. They never felt they could afford to indulge themselves,
but when they came into a small inheritance in 1998, they splurged a little.
They bought a used van for $6,000. They took a fishing trip. And they went on a
discount cruise to the
They invested the rest of their inheritance and savings -- all the money they have in the world besides small retirement and social security checks -- with the Baptist Foundation of Arizona. The salesman had told them it was safe. And when they asked about ongoing state investigations of BFA, they say, they were told by BFA officials: "No problem, it's nothing, everybody gets investigated . . . it's just a routine thing."
The Cacaces call or fax BFA every day asking for their money. They've been told BFA is trying to set up a "Hardship Fund" for those in the most need. But so far, all they get from BFA are carefully worded letters promising nothing. "I don't think we'll ever get our money back," says Joseph.
Ann has more hope. Maybe someday, she says, why not be optimistic. In the meantime, she hopes to push for legislation that would require strict regulatory scrutiny of religious investment institutions. "These people are worse than Keating," she says of BFA officials. "Keating wasn't a hypocrite. He didn't hide behind the name of the Lord."
Speaking of bad trees bearing bad fruits, the Articles of Incorporation of the Baptist Foundation of Arizona states:
Pecuniary profit is not the object of this corporation and it shall have no capital stock and it shall not pay any dividends or make any division of its earnings, income or property to its members and shall not be operated for the financial or pecuniary benefit of any individual. . . ."
Well the Baptist Press reported on
In the latest move by directors of the troubled Baptist Foundation of Arizona, 72 employees were laid off Sept. 10, helping the agency reduce its "overhead by more than 50 percent in a very short period of time."
In a Sept. 13 letter to 13,000 investors, W. Berry Norwood, trustee chairman, said "One sad, but necessary part of our duty to investors was laying off 72 out of 133 employees, most of them on Friday, Sept. 10. "We deeply regret the need to let good people go, but know it is important to retain no more than the staff necessary to operate the organization during this time of transition."
Another component of the cost-cutting plan will be
closure of BFA's Youngtown and
More than 13,000 investors with more than $483 million in
investment products are affected by an Aug. 10 Arizona Corporation Commission
"cease-and-desist" order against the BFA. It ordered BFA to
discontinue immediately the offering and selling of its investment products.
According to the order, the foundation or its affiliates sold securities from
Chartered to raise funds for religious charities, the Baptist Foundation of Arizona and its web of subsidiaries have neglected good works in favor of financing real-estate empires for insiders, investing in highly speculative land deals and lavishing generous salaries, offices and automobiles on staff. While giving a pittance in philanthropic donations to Southern Baptist causes, the Baptist Foundation of Arizona loaned companies controlled by one sitting director and two former directors nearly $140 million, which the insiders plowed into real estate.
BFA records were clouded by a complex web of more than 60 interlocking companies, a maze that allowed BFA to insulate the transactions even from members of its own board of directors. Despite the veil of secrecy, records examined by Phoenix New Times showed that BFA ledgers have been inflated by improbable stock transactions and blue-sky real-estate appraisals. While BFA claims it has never missed a payment to its religious investors, its current liabilities suggest a day of reckoning is at hand.
The troubled Baptist Foundation of Arizona, already under investigation for fraud by the state, was hit recently by a class action lawsuit and another by a Southern Baptist pastor, BFA officials confirmed reported the Baptist press.
The Arizona Southern Baptist Convention agency was sued in Maricopa County Superior Court in a class action lawsuit filed Aug. 27, and on Aug. 30 another suit was brought by a Phoenix-area Southern Baptist pastor.
The class action suit, according to a weekly Phoenix newspaper, was filed by BFA investor Franklin Kestner Sr., who charged the BFA and former and current officers and directors bilked investors by funneling their money into projects "to finance BFA's officers and/or directors' real estate deals which were transacted ... for personal gain and profit."
The Sept. 9-15 issue of the Phoenix New Times newspaper said a second suit by Richard A. Kimsey and his wife, Ann, also alleges BFA current and former officers took investment sales "pyramided into a Ponzi scheme in which the mountain of debt could be sustained only by selling new notes and persuading investors to roll old notes into new investment."
Kimsey became pastor of
The Arizona Corporation Commission had issued a
cease-and-desist order
According to the order, the foundation or its affiliates
sold securities from
The Baptist Foundation of Arizona's which is an agency of the Arizona Southern Baptist Convention and its affiliates sold securities from Arizona through misrepresentations and omissions of fact and engaged in business practices in violation of state law. The Arizona Corporation Commission issued a cease-and-desist order Aug. 10 to the Baptist Foundation of Arizona, to discontinue immediately the offering and selling of its investment products.
It's to be noted that it was the secular media, not the religious media, who first caught on the fact that these Evangelicals were playing hanky panky with the value of investment assets and the close connections between foundation employees and property owners.
The state's investigation, begun in August 1998, followed an earlier lengthy report in a Phoenix-area weekly newspaper which charged the foundation with seriously overestimating the value of some of its investment assets, especially property, and the close connections between foundation employees and property owners.
As a result this Southern Baptists Foundation's primary concern
were not the security of the investors but the property owners and securities
were offered and sold "within or from
The Arizona Corporation Commission was said to have accepted the Baptist Foundation of Arizona's offer to stop selling money-losing investments to unsuspecting investors and parishioners. How wonderful of the BFA to stop after being told to do so? Problems at the BFA had been apparent to some for several years. Speaking of the Southern Baptist Convention accountability the Phoenix New Times reported
According to the Oklahoma Baptist Messenger, in an Aug. 19 story, former BFA attorney L. Kyle Tresch, now living in Tulsa, Okla., said he resigned in April 1996 and told BFA officials in his resignation letter: "Not only have you placed yourselves in a position of civil and criminal liability for your actions, but you have likewise placed the auditors, directors and even innocent officers in positions of liability."
Lorri Paetz, BFA spokesperson, told Baptist Press Sept. 10, "We are aware of the [lawsuit] filings. We are reviewing all of the allegations. We have no comment with respect to ongoing litigation." Even though the word of God tells them:
He who covers his sins will not prosper, But whoever confesses and forsakes them will have mercy. Proverbs 28:13
"For there is nothing hidden which will not be
revealed, nor has anything been kept secret but that it should come to light.
Mark
According to the New Times story, an Aug. 30 BFA memo circulated to Arizona Southern Baptist pastors expressed reservations about ministers granting interviews to reporters. Instead, the memo urged pastors to refer media inquires to BFA's public relations department. "It is up to you to decide if you want to speak to the media in the future, but we must remind you that the media usually focuses on the bad news and that 'scaring people' sells more newspapers," the memo said.
While Christianity Today reported in it's latest August 1999 issue as more cases of pastoral sexual misconduct surface, churches are beginning to understand that more than the victim and perpetrator face fractured lives. With more than 200 reported cases of pastoral sexual misconduct in the country last year, entire congregations are left sorting through shards of shame, scandal, and anger, hoping to find healing and forgiveness in the rubble underneath.
While Religion Today reported that Churches have become targets of financial scams, securities regulators say. The North American Securities Administration Association is warning religious groups to be wary of con artists attempting to gain trust by appealing to their faith.
A number of religious groups have been fooled in recent months, Reuters said. A financial consultant who cheated 30 senior citizens out of $6 million gained their trust by espousing Christian values. Another man raised money from local churches for a fake telephone company that supposedly was minority-owned and operated.
In
But Religion Today does not report on the Baptists
Foundations of the Southern Baptist Convention who have become thieves and
liars. Foundations such as BF of
Religion Today also does not report on the fact that the
Evangelical Council of Financial Accountability was founded by Southern Billy
Graham after the Charlotte Observer discovered an undisclosed $23-million fund
in
ECFA does not practice full financial disclosures of its family owned and run non profit members. In actual fact none of the evangelists, including Billy and Franklin Graham, who belong to ECFA reveal their total salaries and those of their family members and special friends to their donors upon request.
Speaking of Evangelical
Wolves in Sheep's Clothing who have robbed, raped, used and murdered the sheep
over the last forty years in
All of whom claimed to be doing a great work for the Lord
but kept their total compensation salaries and those of their friends a secret beside some of their other sins and
deeds. As they did not want to go down
in disgrace and defeat and shame as
Mind you denominational leaders seem to always protect one
of their own over the sheep including the Assembly of God who were very active
behind the scenes with Jim Bakker, the founder on the now non existent PTL Club
and Heritage
Bakker hardly talks about James and David Taggart, the brothers who many claim controlled Bakker in his final PTL years or that David Taggart was his lover. Fletcher was bitter and said Bakker had failed to keep promises and had forsaken him during tough times. Fletcher stated during the "Pearlygate" media storm that he, too, had been sexually involved with bisexual Bakker.
Bakker, 54, was convicted in 1989 of defrauding 116,000
followers who sent him at least $1,000 each in return for promised lodging at
his religious/recreational complex, Heritage
Bakker helped dedicate the 10,000-seat Carpenter's
Ironically as a reminder that crime does not pay Heritage
USA, the Christian theme park in Fort Mill, South Carolina, founded by Jim
Bakker, closed November 30, 1997. In the
1980s, Heritage
Multi-million dollars Family run Evangelistic Ministries in America be it the Hinn's of Orlando, the Straders of Lakeland, the Howard-Browne's of Tampa, the Falwells of Lynchburg, the Brights of Orlando, the Robertson's of Norkfolk, the Roberts of Tulsa, the Copelands of Forth Worth, and the Graham's of Minneapolis are notorious for hiding their total salaries and those of their family members and special friends in their personally owned non- profit religious corporation.
Just like with the Bakker's of PTL Club fame personal
misconduct, mismanagement, and pillaging of the treasury and misuse of Ministry
resources are quite common. The Straders of Lakeland and personal friends of
the Bakker and Howard-Browne went through a major split of Carpenter's
All of these family run ministries see the dumb sheep as God sent to be fleeced for their own hidden agenda and growth of their personal kingdom of which they are kings and rule supreme. The Tampa Tribune also reported that:
Although Billy Graham encourages religious leaders to be open about their salaries and publish their finances, Howard-Browne would not disclose what he earns. He says his salary is determined by his board of directors, which is comprised of four pastors, himself and his wife. The couple does not vote on his salary. ``People get hung up on the figure,'' he says. ``But they don't take everything into account. I don't get a housing or clothing allowance. We take our kids on the road and that's very expensive.''
Not good enough, says Paul Nelson, president of the
Evangelical Council of Financial Accountability in
For the past five years, the ministry has been audited by
Katz & Kamm, a
Speaking of making their records public, “open about your finances'' and “forthright,” while Paul Nelson, President of Evangelical Council of Financial Accountability reveals upon demand even to strangers his total salary of $ 123,000 and IRS s tax form 990 Franklin Graham, the son of Billy Graham, does not. This makes the Grahams and ECFA hypocrites
But in actual fact none of the Southern Baptist evangelists, including Billy and Franklin Graham, Bill Bright, Jerry Falwell, Pat Robertson, or Louis Paula who belong to ECFA reveal their total salaries and those of their family members and special friends to their donors upon request.
As a matter of fact the total salary of Franklin Graham, the
son of Billy graham is one of
Franklin Graham Is Chairmen Of Samaritan Purse Inc. which has been criticized along with other Evangelicals of trying to "buy souls" with "dishonest gifts" of humanitarian aid.
Although ECFA has in its files the total salaries and remuneration of top five paid employees of Billy Graham Evangelical Organization and Samaritan's Purse it does not release them to the donors- total Salaries and remuneration including housing allowances, pension funds, direct salary, car allowances and other perks.
So it is obvious, even to an idiot, that ECFA works to protect the interests of its paying members and not those of the donors? So ECFA which was founded by Dr. Billy Graham should state that it exists not for the donors but for the members!
All of this brings up the question of whether these family owned and family run non profit ministries are good men or wicked ones? Whether they are blessed they are blessed by God or cursed by God for the ignore the words of Jesus who told them:
"For nothing is secret that will not be revealed, nor anything hidden that will not be known and come to light. Luke 8:17
"And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. "For everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed. "But he who does the truth comes to the light, that his deeds may be clearly seen, that they have been done in God." John 3:19-21
Why do these prominent religious ones who say they are love the Lord and rob and rape and use the dumb sheep have to hide their total salaries and those of their family members. Are they afraid that the public will find out that they are wolves in sheep's clothing and money changers? It seems that way!
It does not matter which family ministry it is be it the Graham's or Copelands they do not disclose to their donors the total salaries of their top executives and say it is a private matter. They are equal opportunity takers but very selective to whom they give things to? How come?
"To the angel of the church of Ephesus write, ' These things says He who holds the seven stars in His right hand, who walks in the midst of the seven golden lampstands: "I know your works, your labor, your patience, and that you cannot bear those who are evil. And you have tested those who say they are apostles and are not, and have found them liars; "and you have persevered and have patience, and have labored for My name's sake and have not become weary. "Nevertheless I have this against you, that you have left your first love.
"Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent and do the first works, or else I will come to you quickly and remove your lampstand from its place-unless you repent. "But this you have, that you hate the deeds of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate. Revelations 2:1-6
One of the great evils of the last century came in the form of religious teachings and beliefs called Fundamental Evangelicals. For it subjected the Word of God to a particular human inspired set of beliefs and ideas by which other beliefs and ideas were also examined. As a result it was possible to be evangelical in every sense of the word but not to love God with all their heart, soul and might, not to love their neighbors as themselves, and to dispense with the Baptism if the Spirit, the gifts of the Spirit and the proper place of Apostles and prophets in the house of God.
The sins of Fundamental Evangelicals were no different than
the sins of the
The word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD, saying, "Stand in the gate of the LORD'S house, and proclaim there this word, and say, 'Hear the word of the LORD, all you of Judah who enter in at these gates to worship the LORD!' " Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: "Amend your ways and your doings, and I will cause you to dwell in this place.
"Do not trust in these lying words, saying, 'The temple of the LORD, the temple of the LORD, the temple of the LORD are these.' "For if you thoroughly amend your ways and your doings, if you thoroughly execute judgment between a man and his neighbor, "if you do not oppress the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow, and do not shed innocent blood in this place, or walk after other gods to your hurt, "then I will cause you to dwell in this place, in the land that I gave to your fathers forever and ever.
"Behold, you trust in lying words that cannot profit. "Will you steal, murder, commit adultery, swear falsely, burn incense to Baal, and walk after other gods whom you do not know, "and then come and stand before Me in this house which is called by My name, and say, 'We are delivered to do all these abominations'? "Has this house, which is called by My name, become a den of thieves in your eyes? Behold, I, even I, have seen it," says the LORD.
"But go now to My place which was in
"And I will cast you out of My sight, as I have cast out all your brethren-the whole posterity of Ephraim. Jeremiah 7:1-15
Speaking about stealing, murder, committing adultery, swearing falsely, and walking after other gods many of the Fundamental Evangelical leaders did just that. Case in point Christianity Today, which was founded by Billy Graham, a Southern Baptist and prominent Evangelical leader, did not report on one of its own pastors Ollin Collins of Harvest Baptist Church in Fort Worth, and Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary's board chairman. A man who resigned amid sexual misconduct allegations when he was accused of having sexual relationships with two women who sought counseling.
But it did report about the adultery of a black man and a National
Baptist but not about the adultery of a white man and Southern Baptist. An
adultery which was more hideous and gross because Collins raped unsuspecting
trusting women while, Lyons adulterous relationships were consensual. It has
been said that
Now concerning the fallen hero, the church had suspended Pastor Collins with pay pending an investigation. He resigned from his board position Sept. 6, one day after a story in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram reported the women's allegations and their intent to sue. Southwestern is the world's largest evangelical seminary, with 3,000 students on eight campuses.
"But of course neither the Seminary nor the Church did nothing for the real female victims but they did help and console the aggressor? Just like Billy Graham stated about Bill Clinton
I forgive him . . . because I know the frailty of human nature, and especially a strong, vigorous young man like he is. "He has such a tremendous personality that I think the ladies just go wild over him."
Of course Bill Clinton was the victim and not the victimizer and it was the fault of the ladies who went wild about him? No compassion or concern from these Evangelical wolves in sheep's clothing for the victims but only for the victimizers? Their deeds and lack of compassion for the victims spoke volumes of their hypocrisy?
While the Baptist Observer posted the following remark on its website on November 8, 1998 about Baptist Doctrine and the system - the fundamentalist theology and attitude and Ollin Collins: "On the other hand, just a few weeks, Ollin Collins, mega-church pastor and trustee chair of Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary and the direct product of fundamentalist theology and attitude, was revealed to be a long-running adulterer"
The editor of THE BAPTIST OBSERVER NEWSPAPER put the blame for Ollin Collins being an adultery not only on the individual but also on the system; which in this case was the fundamentalist theology and attitude or Fundamental Evangelicals of which Billy Graham is Chief?
At the annual meeting of the
National Baptist Convention in 1998, the Rev. Henry Lyons of St. Petersburg,
former President of the National Baptist Convention and personal friend of President Bill
Clinton, admitted to an ``inappropriate relationship'' - an increasingly
popular euphemism for adultery - with a woman employed by the nation's largest
black church group. He said he was sorry and asked for forgiveness and they forgave
him.
Rev. Henry Lyons saw his troubles
begin in July 1997 with arson at a home he is alleged to have owned with a
woman other than his wife. After a
series of reports by the St. Petersburg Times and an investigation by state
prosecutors,
Later lying
Rev. Bob Moorehead, the senior Evangelical pastor of the
Washington's state's largest church of the 5,000-member Overlake Christian
resigned amid allegations he fondled male parishioners and the news that he was
arrested three years ago on a morals charge in Florida to which he pleaded
guilty. Overlake, a nondenominational evangelical church founded in 1968, moved
in December into a $37 million, 241,000-square-foot complex in a
The pastor of the state's largest church resigned amid
allegations he fondled male parishioners and the news that he was arrested
three years ago on a morals charge in
Rev. Bob Moorehead saying he was innocent before he was to be exposed by the investors pending report was really quite sad and pathetic. It seems that over the last twenty years he had fondled many men and ten people have come forward to accuse the senior pastor
The hypocrisy and adultery among prominent evangelicals leaders was amazing. For example religion Today reported on February 16, 20000:
Anti-abortion and pro-marriage leader Randall Terry is being disciplined
The Landmark Church of Binghampton, N.Y., sent a letter of censure to Terry on Nov. 6 citing his separation from his wife of 18 years and intention to divorce her, church leaders said. Terry has rejected the charges in the letter, which is posted on the web site of Operation Save America, formerly Operation Rescue.
Landmark pastor Daniel Little and seven elders and board members signed the letter, which mentions a "pattern of repeated sinful relationships and conversations" with married and single women and Terry's threat of legal action against the church.
Terry began displaying "spiritual deterioration -- chiefly anger and self-will" characterized by a "lack of purity in speech and lifestyle" in 1997, Little said. He asked Terry to resign as a church elder in 1998, and last year after learning that Terry intended to leave his wife and children, asked him to resign from the church board.
Landmark leaders called on Terry to stop raising funds for his ministry, saying most of his donors "have no idea what he now believes nor the liberties and license in which he now walks, and in our opinion would hardly agree to support him if they did." They asked Terry to stop soliciting funds "until such time as his public persona and his true manner of living are known to be the same."
Terry seems to be "an altogether different person than the one we knew and supported so many years ago," Little, his pastor for 15 years, said. Many friends and former associates have tried privately to correct him, "but he has rejected their counsel and accused [them] of treachery," Little said.
Terry is "in desperate need right now of hearing and
receiving the rebuke of our Lord," his longtime anti-abortion activist
colleague Flip Benham said. "His wife Cindy, his children, his pastor, his
friends, and most importantly Jesus Himself love Randall Terry. We are all
praying for his repentance and return to the
Terry called the charges "absolute nonsense, insanity," The Washington Post said. He acknowledged that he and his wife are separated but said his marriage problems are "personal, painful, and private." A letter from four pastors in his defense stated that Terry "has asserted that he has only had sex with his wife." Terry recently founded Loyal Opposition, a group dedicated to protecting traditional marriage, the Post said.
“Dan Strader is
the son of Carpenter's Home Church Senior Pastor Karl Strader. As President of
Interstate Financial Corporation, a land and development company, the younger
Strader was convicted in 1995 of technical violations of
Dan Strader till this day cannot accept his guilt that he was a thief and a con artist who prayed with and on the sheep in particularly Roy Aldrich. The fact remains that Dan was found guilty of racketeering, conspiracy to commit racketeering, 59 counts of sale of securities by an unregistered dealer, 59 counts of sale of unregistered securities, 61 counts of securities fraud, and 57 counts of grand theft of one degree or another. He was sentenced to 45 years in state prison, followed by 25 years probation with a special condition thereof that he make restitution in the amount of $3,069,330.08.
The evil and wicked
deeds of Dan Strader and his 238 counts of theft, fraud and racketeering will
continue to haunt Carpenter's
On
Throughout Dan Strader's post-conviction appeals, attorneys have argued that:
Strader's original attorney, the late Jack Edmund, did
not supply an adequate defense and never sought to depose the state's
witnesses.
Edmund did not have the time or resources to review all the documents used by
prosecutors against Strader.
The state's key witness, Strader's former business associate, Gary Pernice, now
claims Polk prosecutors offered him leniency to testify in Strader's 1995
trial.
The Ledger reported that “those who lost their money in Strader's business say he took their money in a deliberately planned scam. Supporters from his family and Carpenter's Home Church, pastored by his father, the Rev. Karl Strader, say he was unfairly prosecuted and was simply in over his head in a business that he couldn't control.” But court records show that Dan Strader never had a real business. His business was to pray with and prey on the sheep and for that reason he received a 45 year sentence.
Daniel Strader has a web site where he is preaching and
quoting a lot of scripture verses but not about restitution and repentance. In
the mind of the Straders Dan is innocent. In august of 2002 Pastor Stephen
Strader when asked the following
questions ‘You cannot deny anything that
Yes, CHC attendance is down to 1,800 constituents… but NO, there is no financial crises. As a matter of fact, we have NEVER missed a payment, nor been behind in ANY bill… partly because of reduced staff, and partly because my father, and all three other vice-pres including me have taken large cuts in salary… me… 50%… my dad, 25%… the others… 10%! Plus, we laid off many of the staff – most of who got a large check as they were released…
PLUS… CHC finances have been UP 6% since January… we are not having a “fire sale” and DON’T need to sell the church. We feel it is the will of God to do it to help another church that needs the facility… plus, we will still be able to use it when we need it…
Prophecies, first of all, 98% of all of the prophecies have come true… Dan is not out of prison, but the building will be full soon… and Dan will be out soon… watch and see…
Roy Aldrich… Roy would “roll over in his grave” if he knew how people have twisted his comments and remarks towards the Strader family… the words spoken were during a very difficult time in his life… he was very angry… I’ve talked with his wife Pat several times… she is sooo embarrassed over what people are doing with his words… Pat knows the truth… something that you evidently did not take the time to ask her…
You use the words “rob & rape” to describe any preacher… first of all… there are some… But, Satan is the accuser of the brethren. Even if it was true, “woe” to the man or woman who recklessly “rails” against anyone, let alone someone anointed by God.
Remember the story of David – he apologized for even “cutting” King Saul’s cloak while the king was seeking to kill him… Rape? Murder? Thief? These are very reckless words… out of your own mouth… “none of my family have gone to jail”… I am so sorry you said that… you have just cursed your family… repent while you still have time…
… I feel sorry for you. You have allowed a spirit of bitterness to sink into your life. Only Jesus can help you now.
These remarks by Pastor Stephen Stader includeing lies about Roy Aldrich speaking from his grave show the level of deceivement by the Straders. Just like for Dan Strader who refuses to admit he has wrong there is very little hope for them to come to repentance. According to the scriptures, we are to continually test the faith of our spiritual leaders. It's when we stop doing this that we become "suckers" to those who might desire to better themselves at our expense. False doctrine is also preached easily to those who fail to question...
Anyone who takes on the responsability of being a spiritual leader should also readily accept the fact that their word will be under scrutiny by those believers who actively seek the Father. We should go to the scriptures ourselves to verify their messages, and realize that a pastor can be fallible. Annonted or not!
We have every RIGHT given to us by God to question our leaders. We are to
test their faith! An annointment is a sacred thing... but can easily be used in
the wrong way by a false teacher. The first sign of a preacher who should be
replaced is if their emphasis becomes the all mighty dollar!! Happens all the
time. A preacher is a servant... not a
corporate executive. Flee those false preachers and seek one who preached the
real Word!
Each person judges things by his own experience? Some people
live sheltered lives and don't see anything. Others are blind ones who refuse
to see reality around them. But if we consider the numbers of pastors in
In the 70’s Pastor Jerry Falwell stated there were 100
million evangelicals in
But my real documented experience has been that many pastors are liars, rapists and thieves who care more for themselves than the sheep. They talk much but the weak they have not strengthened, nor have they healed those who were sick, nor bound up the broken, nor brought back what was driven away, nor sought what was lost; but with force and cruelty have ruled them.
Most pastors and their churches are anemic, impotent and
useless! So obviously something is wrong with the pastors and their leadership
and teaching! Otherwise Christianity would be total different in
This 'touch not the Lord's anointed' is a shameless ruse to keep the sheep in line. But any leadership must be looked at critically, and held accountable. If the Catholic Church used this line as a defence for pedophile priests, we would justifiably be full of outrage...and we should be full of outrage when it is used as an excuse for not prosecuting criminal behaviour, and for not holding leaders accountable for any other crimes they might commit...nobody is above the law.
Dan Strader is reaping what he sowed. It’s right that Dan Strader was forced to pay some kind of restitution to his victims when he gets out. But menawhile maybe the Straders should sell Carpenter’s Home Church Inc and the church building and re-distribute the money to all the newly poor sheep in the flock, the 'newly poor' sheep that they themselves were responsible for creating? It would be the Christian things to do!
The followings is Dan Strader’s Federal Appeal published on the Web by Dan:
IN THE DISTRICT COURT OF APPEALS
SECOND DISTRICT, STATE OF
DANIEL D. STRADER,
Appellant,
Case No. 2D01-2100
vs. Consolidated with 2D00-1506
L.T. Case No. CF94-2235A1-XX
STATE OF
Appellee.
_________________________________________________________________
INITIAL BRIEF OF APPELLANT, DANIEL D. STRADER,
ON APPEAL FROM THE CIRCUIT COURT OF THE TENTH
JUDICIAL CIRCUIT IN AND
THE HONORABLE DONALD G. JACOBSEN, PRESIDING
_________________________________________________________________
Timothy W. Weber, Esquire
Anthony S. Battaglia, Esquire
Brian P. Battaglia, Esquire
Battaglia, Ross, Dicus & Wein, P.A.
Post Office Box 41100
(727) 381-2300
(727) 343-4059 (fax)
Attorneys for Daniel D. Strader
TABLE OF CONTENTS
TABLE OF AUTHORITIES III
PREFACE VI
STATEMENT OF THE FACTS AND CASE 1
SUMMARY OF ARGUMENT 20
ARGUMENT 22
I. THE UNDISPUTED EVIDENCE SHOWED THAT PROSECUTORS ACTIVELY COACHED A
WITNESS TO GIVE FALSE TESTIMONY AT THE DEFENDANT'S TRIAL; THE
II. JUDGE JACOBSEN ERRED IN DENYING THE DEFENDANT'S MOTION SEEKING HIS DISQUALIFICATION SINCE HIS PRIOR REPRESENTATION OF A PARTY ADVERSE TO THE DEFENDANT IN A RELATED MATTER GAVE THE DEFENDANT A REASONABLE FEAR THAT BIAS WOULD INFECT THE PROCEEDINGS; THE ORDERS UNDER REVIEW IN BOTH CONSOLIDATED CASES ARE TAINTED 35
CONCLUSION 41
CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE 42
TABLE OF AUTHORITIES
CASES
Alcorta v.
355
Brady v.
373
Breakstone v. McKenzie,
561 So. 2d 1164 (Fla. 3d DCA 1989) 35
594 F.2d 4 (4th Cir. 1979) 28
Chapman v.
386
Chastine v. Broome,
629 So. 2d 293 (Fla. 4th DCA 1993) 35
97 So. 2d 181 (
Demps v. State,
416 So. 2d 808 (
Fisher v. Knuck,
497 So. 2d 240 (
Giglio v.
405
Goines v. State,
708 So. 2d 656 (Fla. 4th DCA 1998) 35, 36
Hysler v.
315
Lee v. State,
324 So. 2d 694 (
441 So. 2d 1083 (Fla.1986) 34
Marrow v. State,
483 So. 2d 17 (Fla. 2d DCA 1985) 28
Mathews v. State,
44 So.2d 664 (
Miller v. Pate,
386
Mooney v. Holohan,
294
Napue v.
360
Porterfield v. State,
472 So. 2d 882 (Fla. 1st DCA 1985) 28
Pyle v.
317
Roberts v. State,
161 So. 2d 877 (Fla. 2d DCA 1964) 35
26
State v. Dewell,
179 So. 695 (
State v. Hocker,
34 Fla. 25, 15 So. 581 (
Strickler v. Greene,
527
Tampa St. Ry. & Power Co. v. Tampa Suburban R. Co.,
30 Fla. 595, 15 So. 562 (
427
473
625 F.2d 693 (Former 5th Cir. 1980) 22
598 F.2d 1008 (5th Cir.), aff'd on reh'g,
605 F.2d 862 (5th Cir. 1979) 21, 22
564 F.2d 197 (Former 5th Cir. 1977) 22
535 F.2d 223 (3rd Cir. 1976) 22
418
488 F.2d 334 (6th Cir. 1973) 22
Webb v.
409
White v. Ragen,
324
OTHER AUTHORITIES
Fla.Jur.2d, Evidence and Witnesses § 948 (1995) 28
PREFACE
For purposes of this appeal, Appellant, DANIEL D. STRADER, will use the following designations:
(R.#) Record on Appeal
(CR.#) Consolidated Record (2D00-1506)
(T.#) Initial Trial Transcript
Appellant, DANIEL D. STRADER, will hereinafter be referred to as "the Defendant."
Appellee, STATE OF
STATEMENT OF THE FACTS AND CASE
This appeal and the consolidated appeal in Case No. 2D00-1506 arise out of
the circuit court's denial of the Defendant's motion for post-conviction
relief. Both orders under review were entered by the Honorable Donald G.
Jacobsen, Circuit Judge of the Tenth Judicial Circuit in and for
On June 12, 1995, the Defendant's criminal trial commenced on a Second
Amended Information charging the Defendant with 250 counts, including
racketeering, conspiracy to commit racketeering, sale of securities by an
unregistered dealer (62 counts), sale of unregistered securities (62 counts),
securities fraud (62 counts), and grand theft (62 counts). (T.542-713)
According to Assistant State Attorney and Felony Director Wayne Durden
("Durden"), it was the largest case he had ever prosecuted and the
largest economic crimes case handled by the Tenth Circuit State Attorneys'
Office since he had been there.. (R.892) The public attention devoted to the
case was so pervasive that the lower court granted the Defendant's pretrial
motion for change of venue and seated a jury from
Pernice testified at length during the State's case-in-chief. On direct examination by Durden, he denied that any promises had been made to him in order to obtain his cooperation and testimony in the Defendant's prosecution. (T..2582-2583) On cross-examination by defense counsel, Jack T. Edmunds ("Edmunds"), he denied any deal with the State, claimed that he faced imprisonment, and indicated that he had no idea what the State intended to do. (T.2768). He further denied that any promises had been made. (T.2768; 2846).
On the last day of trial, Edmunds was contacted by a witness from
The Defendant was found guilty of racketeering, conspiracy to commit racketeering, 59 counts of sale of securities by an unregistered dealer, 59 counts of sale of unregistered securities, 61 counts of securities fraud, and 57 counts of grand theft of one degree or another. (T.799-864) The jury ostensibly rejected the Defendant's defense that Pernice, not he, was responsible and that the Defendant merely followed the instructions of his attorney, Pernice. He was sentenced to 45 years in state prison, followed by 25 years probation with the special condition that he make restitution in the amount of $3,069,330.08. (CR.954-1085)
On
On December 15, 1997, the Defendant filed his 3.850 Petition for Post Conviction Relief or in the Alternative Motion for New Trial on Newly Discovered Evidence alleging Brady and Giglio violations, trial counsel's failure to prepare or investigate, trial counsel's representation of conflicting interests, trial counsel's failure to depose more than one of 155 State witnesses, and the lower court's failure to provide the Defendant with adequate tools to mount his defense. The Defendant thereafter filed his Supplement to 3.850 Petition for Post Conviction Relief or in the Alternative Motion for New Trial on Newly Discovered Evidence alleging that prosecutors concealed the promises to Pernice and permitted the witness to give false testimony.
On
Zeller was called as a witness and admitted to not only failing to disclose the Terry Barnes tape but also to failing to disclose other witnesses he had spoken to that had knowledge of fraudulent activity committed by Pernice. (CR.2122-2130) Zeller testified that he did not point out the existence of the tape-recorded statements to trial counsel in connection with the State's discovery disclosure. (CR.2121) Zeller denied ever threatening or promising Pernice anything in connection with his criminal status before the Defendant's trial. (CR.2145-46) Zeller, although he had taken an oath to tell the whole truth, never mentioned witnessing or participating in a conversation with Pernice on the morning of his testimony in the Defendant's trial concerning what Pernice might receive in exchange for his cooperation. Zeller also never mentioned Rafool's claim that Pernice and Jerome believed that a promise of probation had occurred.
Similarly, Durden denied having made any promises to Pernice in exchange for his testimony. Durden stated that prior to the Defendant's trial he advised Pernice that he potentially would be charged with everything that the Defendant was charged with. (CR.2171) Durden, who also took an oath to tell the whole truth, never mentioned the conference in his office before Pernice's testimony or the claims made by Rafool. Durden assured the lower court that nothing had been implied to Pernice. Durden also testified that he was unaware of Terry Barnes before the Defendant's trial.
The lower court held a follow up hearing and entered an order disqualifying the Tenth Circuit State Attorney's Office from making the decision whether or not to grant Pernice immunity. Prosecutors filed a motion for rehearing, which was denied, a petition for writ of certiorari in this Court, which was denied, and an appeal, which was dismissed by this Court. (CR.1363-64; 1368-1372) Eventually, Governor Jeb Bush appointed the Thirteenth Circuit's State Attorney's Office to review the immunity issue. (CR.1369-1371) Ultimately, the State declined to grant the limited use immunity requested.
On
The Defendant appealed to this Court, (CR.1405-1410), raising three issues:
(1) ineffectiveness of counsel; (2) inadequate resources; and (3) failure of
the trial court to require that use and derivative use immunity be granted to Gary
Pernice for the purpose of uncovering the prosecutorial misconduct occurring at
the Defendant's criminal trial. See Initial
Prior to the continued hearing in the lower court, prosecutors turned over to the Defendant notes prepared by Zeller of a meeting between Durden, Zeller and Pernice that occurred the morning of Pernice's testimony in the Defendant's trial. See Defendant's Exs. 5, 20. Prosecutors also turned over two letters written by Judge Jacobsen, when he was a practicing attorney, that were addressed to the Defendant and Carpenter's Crest Limited Partnership declaring a mortgage on the real property involved in the Defendant's real estate development project to be in default. (R.385-388) These letters reflected that Jacobsen had reviewed matters concerning the project and was also copied to various persons who were witnesses in the Defendant's criminal trial. (R.386-388, 389-392) One such witness, Ernest Grothe,2 testified at the Defendant's trial concerning these transactions. (R.389-392; T.2974-3019) Grothe related that in 1990 there was a very severe cash flow shortage and the limited partnership was having difficulty meeting its obligations to the bank, which was prompting the bank to foreclose. (T.2992) Grothe described loaning additional money to the project to acquire the bank's mortgage. (T.2992,3008) Grothe desribed how he and alleged victim Robert Snodgrass, acquired the mortgage. (T.3008) Based on Judge Jacobsen's prior denial of involvement with the subject matter and representation of a party adverse to him in a matter so intertwined with the facts of his criminal case, the Defendant filed a motion to disqualify the lower court from presiding over the hearing accompanied by an affidavit explaining, in detail, the reasons for his well founded fear of bias. (R.382-398) The lower court denied the motion as facially insufficient. (R.381)
Thereafter, the lower court conducted further evidentiary and
non-evidentiary proceedings on
A. When I explained to him -- he asked the question, something along the lines that you did, what do you expect -- if I ask you this question in the courtroom, do we have a deal or whatever, and I explained my understanding, which had always been and had been clearly iterated in my presence with Mr. Rose and Mr. Durden and Mr. Zellers and others, and when I -- when I responded as I did to you, the reaction was most threatening and most discouraging of that, as the answer that I would be permitted to say in that courtroom.
Q. And he was upset about you raising that issue; correct?
A. I wouldn't use the word upset. I know he probably anticipated it. He made it very clear to me that I had voluntarily given two days of deposition a year earlier and that if I answered the question in the courtroom as I had indicated to him about my understanding, that that understanding would not be honored, and that I should consider the fact that there were two days of depositions given a year earlier.
Q. Now, he told you in response that he didn't want you to tell the jury about this arrangement. Isn't that what he said?
A. I can't use the words that he used, as it was sometime ago. I recall him asking the question over and over and over until he was satisfied of the answer that I gave. He was very concerned that I was so uncomfortable with the answer that I was being required to give.
Q. And so he asked you the question over and over again until the response
was that you testified at trial that there were no promises or benefits you'll
receive from the State of
A. As I recall, that is the thing -- that seemed to satisfy his grilling of me in his office.
Q. And he indicated to you that was obviously - that particular discussion that you all had concerning this arrangement, he had did not want you to tell anybody about that when you actually testified in the courtroom, or discuss it, or at least reference it, correct, in your testimony?
A. If I referenced it, it was his clear indication that he would not honor it and that I should be very leery of my concerns based on all the cooperation that I'd given. There was an awful lot of information given.
(R.619-621) Pernice called Zeller after his testimony to ask how it went. (R.1012)
Importantly, Pernice's account of this conversation was corroborated by Zeller. (R.1004; Defendant's Ex. 5, 20) Zeller's notes of the conversation, finally turned over to the Defendant recorded Pernice's discomfort with the answer he was asked to give. See Defendant's Exs. 5, 20. Zeller recorded that:
ASA Durden also advised Pernice that he would be asking him what expectations he had from the State in exchange for his testimony . . . I do not recall what Pernice's response was, but it was equivocal. When this was pointed out to him, I believe he responded with, "what do you want me to say?" ASA Durden simply responded that we wanted him to tell the truth.
Defendant's Exs. 5, 20 (emphasis added). When asked to elaborate, Zeller testified "as I recall, his answer was equivocal in some fashion, and I do not remember exactly what he said, all I know is it provoked a response from both of us telling him that that wasn't correct, and he said, well - as I recall, I think he said, well, what do you want me to say? And I think our spontaneous response was; the truth." (R.1004) "He [Durden] reminded him of what the agreement had been from day one, and that he was to tell the truth. That's what we wanted." (R.1006) "We reminded him that that wasn't the truth.." (R.1010)
When asked whether Pernice indicated to him in any way during this meeting that he was uncomfortable with testifying that no promises had been made, Durden answered, "I don't remember." (R.916) Durden later stated that Pernice unequivocally indicated that there were no promises made during this meeting. (R.940) Durden admitted that in light of his statements in opening argument that it would have been embarrassing to his credibility and the case if Pernice had testified that there had been promises made before the jury. (R.920) Durden testified that he did not recall whether Rafool claimed that Pernice and Jerome had a prior understanding concerning straight probation. (R.944,974) However, he did testify that Jerome became upset with him because she had been expecting more favorable treatment than they wanted to give after the trial. (R.970) Finally, Durden continued to deny that he had been made aware of Terry Barnes prior to the Defendant's trial, even though handwritten notes in his writing were produced indicating as much and several telephone messages from Barnes taken by his secretary during the trial were entered into evidence. See Defendant's Exs. 19 (filed labeled victim/witness contacts).
Hill testified and denied knowledge of a "deal" with Pernice but failed to "recall" any details of his meeting with Rafool, (R-717-721), or being told that Pernice was operating under an "understanding." Although Hill only "vaguely" recalled the meeting with Rafool, he admitted candidly that he did not doubt Rafool's account of what was said nor deny that it happened. (R-719) Hill admitted that Durden was almost exclusively in charge of the case after Rose resigned and had great latitude to offer plea arrangements. (R-699-700). Hill also testified that Pernice was "a positive part of the prosecution," although they "might have been able to handle it without him because they had other evidence to corroborate Pernice's testimony." (R-691-692). Hill admitted that they did "expect to use [Pernice] as a witness and never made a decision not to use him as a witness." (R. 692)
Edmunds testified that he had made written demand for exculpatory
information, including information relating to statements made by co-defendants
or which might tend to be exculpatory or indicate the possible prejudice of
witnesses. (R.1031,1037; Defendant's Ex. 6) Edmunds further testified that he
relied on the State's failure to disclose any promises to Pernice as a
representation that none had been made. (R.1031-32) Edmunds testified that
Pernice "was probably the most important witness, as far as I was
concerned," (R.1032), that matters affecting Pernice's credibility were
important to his pretrial investigation and trial strategy, and that Pernice's
credibility was the most important aspect of the trial. (R.1033) Edmunds
recalled that Pernice was unequivocal on the stand concerning promises and came
across to the jury that way. (R.1039) He stated that no one told him before
Pernice's testimony that Pernice had been equivocal on the subject of promises
nor did Durden or Hill advise him of Rafool's claims immediately following the
conclusion of the case. (R.1039,1049) Of course, Edmunds' frustration in trying
to elicit the truth from Pernice was previously expressed by him on
.. . . he knew that he would be getting a plea agreement at some later time. . . . He knew he had cut a deal. He knew it just as sure as the sun came up behind you that he cut a deal. He didn't know -- he may have known precisely how much. I don't know that. I know he'd have never told me.
(CR.1269)
The Defendant offered into evidence several documents establishing that during the year prior to his testimony, Pernice voluntarily permitted his phone to be wire-tapped by the State, (R.985; Defendant's Ex. 1), and waived his accountant-client privilege at the State's request in order to make evidence available for use at the Defendant's trial. (R.996; Defendant's Ex. 2) Neither of these matters were disclosed to Edmunds before or during the Defendant's trial. (R.1035-36,1038) Further, the Defendant offered evidence that Zeller was aware of a warehouse full of documents in Georgia that constituted Pernice's office records, (Defendant's Ex. 16), some of which related to the transactions in question at the Defendant's trial, (R.634), and did not disclose that to the defense as well. (Defendant's Ex. 16)3
The State defended the conviction on the grounds that no deal had, in fact, been reached with Pernice and that Pernice and Jerome were affirmatively advised on May 26 and 27, 1994 that no deals would be made to Pernice in connection with the case. The State offered testimony from Kathy Kushner and Terrance Bergum suggesting that on May 26 and 27, 1994, at a sworn statement of Pernice in Bartow, Pernice was absolutely advised that no deals would be made with him prior to the Defendant's trial. (R.1063,1073) The record of the proceedings on that day reflected the following statements of Jerome and Rose:
MS. JEROME: Well, I'll just put a statement on the record that I'm Cheryl Jerome, and I represent Gary Pernice. And we have come into the jurisdiction in good faith to basically tell you or answer your questions and tell you what we know about the instance against Dan Strader. We're doing it without benefit of a plea bargain. I will tell you on the record I'm uncomfortable with that, but based on your all's representations of integrity, I'm willing to advise him to go ahead and do that and he's willing to waive any Fifth Amendment privileges and answer your questions as honestly as he can.
* * * * *
MR. ROSE: And also I want to make sure that Mr. Pernice understands that he will be arrested at some point in the future and will be prosecuted, but we are going to take into consideration his cooperation with us here when it comes to recommendation of his sentence for the court.
(State's Ex. 3, p. 4-5). However, neither witness account squares with the
testimony of Rose, also offered by the State, or an
On
In regard to Mr. Durden's alleged coercion or intimidation of Mr. Pernice, the Court finds that there was none. At the pre-testimony meeting between Mr.. Durden and Mr. Pernice, Mr. Durden was only insisting that Mr. Pernice tell the truth, that truth being there was no agreement for his testimony.
(R.1280) The lower court was dismissive of Pernice, Rafool, and Zeller's testimony, characterizing the accounts as simply Pernice's "optimistic, hopeful expectation" that he would receive consideration for his cooperation and testimony. (R.1278) With reference to Rafool's unrefuted testimony based on detailed written notes created contemporaneously with the event, the lower court characterized Rafool's meeting with Durden and Hill as merely "reiteration of the optimistic, hopeful expectation of Gary Pernice." (R.1280) The lower court pointed to what it considered other significant evidence of the Defendant's guilt to support its finding that no constitutional violation occurred. (R.1281) The lower court did not, however, find that additional evidence of Pernice's bias would not have affected the judgment of the jury.
On
SUMMARY OF ARGUMENT
The lower court erred in finding that prosecutor Durden's coaching of Pernice was not a constitutional violation. The lower court misapplied the law to essentially undisputed facts in an attempt to rationalize why Pernice's bias was shielded from the jury. The State's own investigator, Zeller, admitted that Pernice was directed not to tell the jury that he believed he had reached an understanding with the State because it was the State's position that no such agreement had been reached. Pernice, over whom the State was exercising substantial control, was uncomfortable expressing what prosecutors directed him to say because he had been led to believe by prosecutors that he would not face imprisonment. Pernice ultimately testified at the Defendant's trial that no promises or deals had been made and that he faced imprisonment. The lower court erred in not finding a constitutional violation in such coaching of this key witness.
Moreover, Judge Jacobsen erred in denying the Defendant's motion to disqualify him where the Defendant timely presented a properly supported motion setting forth facts supporting why the Defendant reasonably believed that the court's partiality was in question. Judge Jacobsen's prior representation of parties adverse to the Defendant in a substantially related matter and subsequent denial of knowledge of the subject matter was sufficient to create a well founded fear of bias in the Defendant. The motion was procedurally proper, timely, and sufficiently supported. It should have been granted.
The lower court's orders are erroneous and tainted with the appearance of improperiety and should be reversed with directions to set aside the Defendant's conviction, or, at minimum, reconsidered by an appropriate circuit judge.
ARGUMENT
I. THE UNDISPUTED EVIDENCE SHOWED THAT PROSECUTORS ACTIVELY COACHED A
WITNESS TO GIVE FALSE TESTIMONY AT THE DEFENDANT'S TRIAL; THE
The ends of criminal justice would be defeated if judgments were to be founded on a partial or speculative presentation of the facts. The very integrity of the judicial system and public confidence in the system depend on full disclosure of all the facts, within the framework of the rules of evidence.
One reason is that this due process violation will almost always be harmful, and it will be very difficult for a court to determine when it is not. This is because a court will seldom be able to determine exactly what evidence would have been brought out had the witness been allowed to testify freely. Furthermore, since a constitutional violation is involved, a court would have to be able to conclude that the absence of this unknown testimony was harmless beyond a reasonable doubt. . . . Even if a court could say with the requisite certainty that the omitted testimony would not have changed the outcome of the case, the defendant still should be allowed to attempt to change that outcome by presenting his witnesses. A final reason supports our conclusion. We cannot imagine that such a violation of due process would result from anything but intentional conduct on the part of the government, and a per se rule would be the best deterrent to such conduct.
Demps, 416 So. 2d at 810 (quoting Hammond, 598 F.2d at 1013). The Court, in
addressing Demps' claim that State officials induced a defense witness to
change his testimony or remain silent by promising early parole, concluded that
"we believe the interests of justice are best served by assuming prejudice
to the defendant under the circumstances of this case."
In Mooney v. Holohan, 294 U.S. 103 (1935), the Court addressed a habeas petitioner's claim that he was deprived of due process by the State's knowing use of perjured testimony and deliberate suppression of evidence which would have impeached and refuted the perjured testimony. In discussing the constitutional requirements of due process, the Court noted:
It is a requirement that cannot be deemed to be satisfied by mere notice and hearing if a state has contrived a conviction through the pretense of a trial which in truth is but used as a means of depriving a defendant of liberty through a deliberate deception of court and jury by the presentation of testimony known to be perjured. Such a contrivance by a state to procure the conviction and imprisonment of a defendant is as inconsistent with the rudimentary demands of justice as is the obtaining of a like result by intimidation.
294 U.S. at 112. Seven years later, the Court revisited a similar claim in
Pyle v.
Similarly, in Napue v. Illinois, 360 U.S. 264 (1959), and Giglio v. United
States, 405 U.S. 150 (1972), the Court addressed claims alleging that
prosecutors knowingly permitted cooperating co-conspirators to falsely deny
that promises of leniency had been made to them in exchange for their testimony
and deliberately withheld evidence tending to show that such promises had been
made. In Napue, the cooperating witness, Hamer, testified that he had received
no promise of consideration in exchange for his testimony. 360 U.S. at 265. The
Assistant State Attorney did nothing to correct the testimony.
Citing its decisions in Mooney and Pyle, the Court recognized that a
conviction obtained through the use of false testimony, known to be such by representatives
of the State, must fall under the Fourteenth Amendment.
The principle that a State may not knowingly used false evidence, including false testimony, to obtain a tainted conviction, implicit in any concept of ordered liberty, does not cease to apply merely because the false testimony goes only to the credibility of the witness. The jury's estimate of the truthfulness and reliability of a given witness may well be determinative of guilt or innocence, and it is upon such subtle factors as the possible interest of the witness in testifying falsely that a defendant's life or liberty may depend.
In Giglio, the Court addressed Giglio's claim that the Assistant United
States Attorney who initially obtained an indictment against Giglio had
promised the cooperating witness that he would not be prosecuted if he
testified in Giglio's trial but that a different Assistant United States
Attorney trying Giglio's case was unaware of the promise when the witness
falsely denied it had been made. 405
In United States v. Agurs, 427 U.S. 97 (1976), the Court explicitly
recognized that the standard for granting a new trial was considerably lower
when the prosecutor knowingly used perjured testimony as opposed to mere
non-disclosure of material information. Citing to Mooney, the Court stated
"that a conviction obtained by the knowing use of perjured testimony is
fundamentally unfair, and must be set aside if there is any reasonable
likelihood that the false testimony could have affected the judgment of the
jury." 427 U.S. at 103. The
In United States v. Bagley, 473 U.S. 667, 679 n. 9 (1985), the Court equated
the standard applicable to claims of knowing use of perjured testimony with the
harmless error standard adopted in Chapman v. California, 386 U.S. 18 (1967),
under which the beneficiary of the error (the government) must prove beyond a
reasonable doubt that the error complained of did not contribute to the
verdict. This heightened standard, even at the post-conviction relief stage, is
simply a recognition of the fact that the knowing use of perjured testimony is
a "corruption of the truth-seeking function of the trial process."
Agurs, 427
Thus, a conviction obtained by the knowing use of false testimony cannot be
permitted to stand. Mooney, 294 U.S. 103; see also Giglio, supra; Miller v.
Pate, 386 U.S. 1 (1967); Napue, 360 U.S. 264; Alcorta v. Texas, 355 U.S. 28
(1957); White v. Ragen, 324 U.S. 760 (1945); Pyle v. Kansas, 317 U.S. 213; and
Hysler v. Florida, 315 U.S. 411 (1942). The same rule applies if the
prosecution, although not actively soliciting false evidence, passively but
knowingly allows it to go uncorrected or allows the jury to be presented with a
materially false impression. Napue v. Illinois, supra; Alcorta v. Texas, supra.
The same result may obtain even though the false nature of the evidence
concerns only the credibility of an important witness, rather than the ultimate
issue of guilt or innocence. Brady v. Maryland, supra. The duty of disclosure
is even more important where the witness provides the key testimony against the
accused. See Giglio, 405
The lower court erred in applying these principles to the facts of this case.. It attempted to justify the prosecutorial coaching of Pernice on the grounds that Pernice's testimony that there was no "deal" was the truth. The problem with the lower court's approach is that the witness believed that there had been promises made and that belief was his motivation for cooperating and testifying against the Defendant. The State simply eliminated this evidence of bias from the jury by telling Pernice that his belief was wrong and that he could not recite it before the jury. This was plainly improper.
Several courts, including this one, have addressed claims that promises of
leniency to key State witnesses have been hidden. In such cases, it is not
necessary that an agreement with a witness be ironclad before it must be
disclosed. Marrow v. State, 483 So. 2d 17, 19 (Fla. 2d DCA 1985). Even tacit
understandings or incomplete agreements must be disclosed as the jury is
entitled to know all of the facts bearing on a witness' credibility. See
Porterfield v. State, 472 So. 2d 882, 885 (Fla. 1st DCA 1985). The focus should
be on whether 'a tentative promise of leniency might be interpreted by [the]
witness as contingent upon the nature of his testimony."
A defendant's right to impeach a witness concerning any deals that may have been made or any understandings that may have been reached between the state and its witness does not hinge on whether in fact any such deals or understandings were effected, but rather the witness's belief or disbelief that a deal exists.
Fla.Jur.2d, Evidence and Witnesses § 948 (1995). Thus, the witness' belief that such an understanding may or may not exist, and hence his potential bias against the accused, is the critical consideration. The lower court's reliance on the prosecutor's belief that no "deal" had been reached simply misses the point.
Where, as here, the State becomes aware of the witness' belief and his intention to testify as such, its lawyers simply cannot coach the witness into conforming his statement with that of the prosecutor, especially where the witness is particularly vulnerable to intimidation as a result of his own participation in the alleged criminal episode and prosecutors have made his continued liberty dependent on the character of his cooperation.
As quoted in Mathews v. State, 44 So.2d 664, 669 (
Lee v. State, 324 So. 2d 694, 698 (Fla. 1976). Where a prosecutor becomes aware that a witness believes certain facts to be true and that this belief serves as a source of bias against the accused, the prosecutor should not direct the witness to testify otherwise even if the witness was mistaken in his belief in those facts. He should permit the witness to state his belief before the jury and then attempt to impeach him with whatever evidence the prosecutor believes to be true. Here, neither the lower court nor the State dispute that Pernice was directed to say that no promises or deals had been made after he expressed discomfort in saying so.
The lower court simply misapplied the law in finding that Durden was justified in directing Pernice to testify that there was no deal.
In regard to Mr. Durden's alleged coercion or intimidation of Mr. Pernice, the Court finds there was none. At the pre-testimony meeting between Mr. Durden and Mr. Pernice, Mr. Durden was only insisting that Mr. Pernice tell the truth, that truth being that there was no agreement for his testimony.
(R.1280) The lower court simply misapplied the law in its attempt to rationalize why Pernice's motivation for testifying against the Defendant was shielded from the jury.
As to whether there was, in fact, an undisclosed deal or promise, the lower
court's treatment of Rafool's testimony further demonstrates its erroneous
rationalization of constitutional error. Rafool's unrefuted, unchallenged
testimony was that on
Q: And, again, Mr. Rafool, recognizing that this is difficult and a long time ago, you used the term expectations. Can you define to us what that means in the context you use it?
A. I don't remember using the word expectations, but if you - I remember using the word understanding.
Q. Well, let's do that. Understanding, in this context, what did that mean to you?
A. It meant that that's what they believed had occurred.
Q. And when you say they, you're referring to?
A. Ms. [Jerome] Moore and Mr. Pernice.
(R.545) Inexplicably, the lower court, in its order under review, characterized this unambiguous testimony from an officer of the court into merely "a reiteration of the optimistic, hopeful expectation of Gary Pernice." (R.1280) The lower court did not, in its order, find that Pernice or Rafool's undisputed accounts were not credible, it simply attached to them the conclusory label of "expectation" in order to justify an erroneous conclusion. The testimony was indisputably to the contrary.
Whether or not either account was credited, the State's own investigator, Zeller, testified that on the morning of Pernice's testimony in the Defendant's trial, Pernice indicated to prosecutors a belief that he had been promised something which, in the words of Zeller, "provoked a response." Durden and Zeller informed Pernice that whatever he said was not correct and then reminded him what the truth was and told him to tell it. This testimony was not disputed; the lower court simply tried to rationalize it. In so doing, it erred in applying the law.
The danger of the prosecutorial misconduct involved in this case is readily apparent. The State did not charge Pernice with any crime for over a year after his confession, clearly for the purpose of using looming criminal charges as a leverage point to secure his continued cooperation. If Pernice had not been a critical and necessary witness to the State's case, the State would have charged him in May of 1994 after he confessed to several crimes without a grant of immunity. Instead, prosecutors, by their account, continued to hold off charging Pernice but regularly advised him that he would be charged after the Defendant's trial and what would ultimately happen to him was dependent on the character of his cooperation with the State. The State, having attempted from the outset to manipulate Pernice's testimony, now wonders how Pernice might have gotten the idea that prosecutors had committed to a probationary disposition contingent on his cooperation and testimony at the Defendant's trial.
Whether Pernice erroneously believed that prosecutors had committed to probation for his cooperation, this belief was his belief and the jury was entitled to know it. When prosecutors told him that his belief "was not correct" and "reminded him what the truth was" in response to the witness' indication that he could not unequivocally deny that promises had been made, they became persecutors intent on delivering to the jury exactly what they had promised in their opening statement.
The prosecutor's special role in our adversary system demanded much more. The United States Supreme Court has long recognized that the underlying policy of its Brady decision rests upon the abhorrence of the concealment of material arguing for innocence by one arguing for guilt. And our own Florida Supreme Court, citing Strickler v. Greene, 527 U.S. 263 (1999), recently recognized:
These cases, together with earlier cases condemning the knowing use of perjured testimony, illustrate the special role played by the American prosecutor in the search for truth in criminal trials. Within the federal system, for example, we have said that the United States Attorney is "the representative not of an ordinary party to a controversy, but of a sovereignty whose obligation to govern impartially is as compelling as its obligation to govern at all; and whose interest, therefore, in a criminal prosecution is not that it shall win a case, but that justice shall be done." Berger v. United States, 295 U.S. 78, 88 (1935).
II. JUDGE JACOBSEN ERRED IN DENYING THE DEFENDANT'S MOTION SEEKING HIS DISQUALIFICATION SINCE HIS PRIOR REPRESENTATION OF A PARTY ADVERSE TO THE DEFENDANT IN A RELATED MATTER GAVE THE DEFENDANT A REASONABLE FEAR THAT BIAS WOULD INFECT THE PROCEEDINGS; THE ORDERS UNDER REVIEW IN BOTH CONSOLIDATED CASES ARE TAINTED
The lower court erred in denying defendant's motion to disqualify, because
the motion was in writing, supported by a separate affidavit of the movant and
certificate of his counsel, timely, and specifically described prejudice or
bias sufficient to constitute a legally sufficient foundation for the
Defendant's fear that he would not receive a fair hearing. See Fla.R.Jud.Admin.
2.160; Cf. Florida Statutes § 38.10. Upon a timely application, a judge may
only determine whether the motion is legally sufficient and is not allowed to
pass on the truth of the matters alleged. Fisher v. Knuck, 497 So. 2d 240, 242
(Fla. 1986). In determining the legal sufficiency of the motion, the judge must
determine if the asserted facts are reasonably sufficient to create a well
founded fear in the mind of the party that he will not receive a fair trial.
The disqualification issue is especially sensitive when the bias complained
of stems from a judge's prior involvement as attorney before he was seated on
the bench. Disqualification of a judge on these grounds has been addressed by a
number of
On
The lower court acted without legal justification in finding the Defendant's motion legally insufficient since it contained three independent grounds for disqualification: (1) he previously represented parties adverse to the Defendant, Interstate Financial and Carpenter's Crest; (2) the subject matter of the representation was directly related to the subject matter of the criminal trial (several investors/alleged victims testified to investing monies with the Defendant to acquire the bank note and mortgage, transactions about which Jacobsen was undoubtedly familiar (letters copied to Grothe and Snodgrass); and (3) the judge denied any prior involvement with the Defendant when asked. The Defendant stated that he provided confidential financial information related to the Carpenter's Crest project and himself. Judge Jacobsen, as attorney for the bank, stated that he had reviewed materials relating to these loans, and upon reviewing them, apparently made a determination to advise the Defendant that he would bring suit for non-payment. Did the judge's prior involvement lead him to believe that the Defendant was a "dead beat?" Did it lead him to the conclusion that the Defendant was insolvent or desperate to pay off the loan by making false representations to investors? The answers to these questions demonstrate precisely why the Defendant was reasonable in believing that the partiality of the judge was in question. The lower court erred in finding the motion was legally insufficient and should be reversed for that reason alone.
CONCLUSION
As a result of the fundamentally unfair trial provided to this Defendant, this Court must REVERSE, vacate the judgment and sentence, exonerate the Defendant, or alternatively, grant a new trial, and award such other and further relief as justice requires. At minimum, this Court should reverse the lower court's denial of the Defendant's Motion to Disqualify Judge Donald G. Jacobsen and remand for reconsideration, by an impartial judge, of both orders denying post-conviction relief.
CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE
I HEREBY CERTIFY, that a true and correct copy of the foregoing was sent United States Mail to Patricia McCarthy, Esquire, Office of the Attorney General, 2002 North Lois Avenue, Tampa, Florida 33607 this ___ day of September, 2001.
_________________________________
ANTHONY S. BATTAGLIA, ESQUIRE
BRIAN P. BATTAGLIA, ESQUIRE
TIMOTHY W. WEBER, ESQUIRE
BATTAGLIA, ROSS, DICUS & WEIN, P.A.
Post Office Box 41100
(727)381-2300
(727)343-4059 (fax)
Attorneys for Daniel D. Strader
CERTIFICATE OF COMPLIANCE
I HEREBY CERTIFY that this brief complies with the font requirements of Fla.R.App.P. 9.210(a)(2).
__________________________________
TIMOTHY W. WEBER, ESQUIRE
1 Rafool testified from detailed notes prepared contemporaneously with the events as they occurred and his account was not disputed by Hill, Durden, Pernice, or any other witness.
2 Ernest Grothe is currently being represented by Jacobsen's former firm, Lane, Trohn, et al., and is suing the Defendant and Carpenter's Crest Limited Partnership relating to the Carpenter's Crest real estate project.
3 Had Zeller disclosed the warehouse, Edmunds would most likely have discovered Defendant's Ex. 16 which revealed the FBI had been investigating Pernice as well. (Defendant's Ex. 16)
4 Similarly, in Davis v. Alaska, 415 U.S. 308, 318, 94 S. Ct. 1105, 1111, 39 L.Ed.2d 347 (1974), the Court held that denial of defense counsel's right to effectively cross-examine a key witness concerning the witness' bias or potential motivation to testify falsely was "constitutional error of the first magnitude and no amount of showing of want of prejudice would cure it." Such a per se rule is equally justified in this case where an intentional act deprived defense counsel of the ability to effectively cross-examine a witness, a central component of the Sixth Amendment's Confrontation Clause right. Cf. Bagley, 473 U.S. at 677-678, 105 S. Ct. at 3381 (refusing to apply Davis per se rule to mere non-disclosures).
5 When Rafool confronted Hill and Durden regarding Pernice and Jerome's
claim that a promise of no jail time had been made but was not being honored,
Durden, knowing that he had offered evidence to the contrary just weeks before,
did not bring Rafool's statements to the attention of defense counsel or this
Court. See R. Reg.
6 Likewise,
7 Motion for disqualification was submitted to the Court three days after receipt of letters
THE CIRCUIT COURT OF THE TENTH JUDICIAL CIRCUIT
IN AND
STATE OF FLORIDA, CASE NO. CF94-2235A1-XX vs. DANIEL D. STRADER
EDITORS NOTE: This memorandum has been edited for brevity. The edits have been identified by inviting the reader to refer to the ìcomplete fileî for additional information.
SUPPLEMENTAL MEMORANDUM OF LAW IN
SUPPORT OF MOTION FOR POST-CONVICTION RELIEF
The Defendant, DANIEL D. STRADER, files this Supplemental Memorandum of Law in Support of Motion for Post-conviction Relief, and says:
INTRODUCTION
The Defendant has consistently maintained that Gary J. Pernice lied at the Defendantís trial to curry favor with prosecutors. However, what has transpired before this Court paints a much darker portrait -- one that depicts the extent to which a prosecutor was willing to bend the rules of fair play and exploit the vulnerability of a witness in order to nail down a conviction in an unusually high-profile case. Once this Court considers all of the direct and circumstantial evidence, in light of its experience and common sense, there can be little doubt what has occurred in this case. The evidence ineluctably leads to the conclusion that Dan Strader was deprived of his liberty through a trial process that was intentionally distorted by an officer of the court.
BACKGROUND
On June 3, 1994, the State filed a 267 count Information against the Defendant charging him with racketeering, conspiracy to commit racketeering, organized fraud, sale of securities by an unregistered dealer (66 counts), sale of unregistered securities (66 counts), securities fraud (66 counts), and grand theft (66 counts). Over a year later, on June 12, 1995, trial commenced on the Second Amended Information charging the Defendant with 250 counts, including racketeering, conspiracy to commit racketeering, sale of securities by an unregistered dealer (62 counts), sale of unregistered securities (62 counts), securities fraud (62 counts), and grand theft (62 counts). In opening argument, Assistant State Attorney Wayne Durden advised the jury that key state witness, Gary J. Pernice, would be testifying and that he would tell the jury that he had been made absolutely no promises whatsoever for his testimony.
Pernice testified at length during the Stateís case-in-chief and denied on
direct examination, and during cross-examination, that any promises had been
made to him in order to obtain his cooperation and testimony in the Defendantís
prosecution. On the last day of trial, the defense was contacted by a witness
from
Pernice was re-called to testify after the Barnes tape surfaced. In his second appearance, he bolstered his previous testimony that there was no ìdealî with the State and again unequivocally denied that there had been any promises made to him by the State.
The Defendant was found guilty of racketeering, conspiracy to commit racketeering, 59 counts of sale of securities by an unregistered dealer, 59 counts of sale of unregistered securities, 61 counts of securities fraud, and 57 counts of grand theft of one degree or another. He was sentenced to 45 years in state prison, followed by 25 years probation with a special condition thereof that he make restitution in the amount of $3,069,330.08.
On
Pernice was not charged with 250 counts but instead was charged with only three counts of grand theft pursuant to an agreement with the State that he receive no more than 4 years. Interestingly, at Perniceís sentencing, former Assistant State Attorney Brent Rose, the original lead Prosecutor for the State in the Defendantís case, spoke on behalf of Pernice.
On December 15, 1997, the Defendant filed his 3.850 Petition for Post Conviction Relief or in the Alternative Motion for New Trial on Newly Discovered Evidence alleging Brady and Giglio violations, trial counselís failure to prepare or investigate, trial counselís representation of conflicting interests, trial counselís failure to depose more than one of 155 State witnesses, and the courtís failure to provide trial counsel or the Defendant with adequate tools to mount his defense. The Defendant thereafter filed his Supplement to 3.850 Petition for Post Conviction Relief or in the Alternative Motion for New Trial on Newly Discovered Evidence alleging that the State concealed the cooperation agreement with Pernice and permitted the witness to give false testimony at trial concerning its existence. This Court found that an evidentiary hearing was necessary to address the claims concerning the undisclosed cooperation agreement between the State and Pernice.
On
Zeller was called as a witness and admitted to not only failing to disclose the Terry Barnes tape but also to failing to disclose other witnesses he had spoken to that had knowledge of fraudulent activity committed by Pernice. Zeller testified that he did not point out the existence of the tape-recorded statements to trial counsel in connection with the Stateís discovery disclosure. Zeller denied ever threatening or promising Pernice anything in connection with his criminal status before the Defendantís trial. Zeller, although he had taken an oath to tell the whole truth, never mentioned that Pernice had responded equivocally on the morning of his trial testimony to Durdenís questions concerning what he expected to receive in exchange for his cooperation. Zeller also never mentioned that Rafool claimed that Pernice and Jerome had been led to believe that there was a deal.
Similarly, Durden denied having made any promises to Pernice in exchange for his testimony. Durden stated that prior to the Defendantís trial he advised Pernice that he potentially would be charged with everything that the Defendant was charged with. Durden, who also took an oath to tell the whole truth, never mentioned the conference in his office before Perniceís testimony, the fact that Pernice had equivocated when asked what his understanding of the arrangement was, or the claims made by Rafool. Durden assured this Court that nothing had been implied to Pernice. Durden also testified that he was unaware of Terry Barnes before Straderís trial.
A follow up hearing was held in which this Court, upon request of defense counsel, entered an order recusing the State Attorney's Office for the Tenth Judicial Circuit from making the decision whether or not to grant Pernice immunity in order that he may be heard. The State Attorney's Office filed a motion for rehearing, which was denied, a petition for writ of certiorari, which was denied, and an appeal, which was dismissed. Eventually, Governor Bush appointed the State Attorney's Office for the Thirteenth Judicial Circuit to review whether to grant Pernice immunity. The State ultimately declined to grant the limited immunity requested, although Pernice's testimony would conclusively determine whether a Brady, Giglio or Due Process violation occurred.
On
Pernice related in pertinent part:
8 Q. Yes. Did you have an understanding as to what the
9 arrangement was with the State of
10 assistance, cooperation, and testimony in the Strader
11 matter?
12 A. I did have an understanding.
13 Q. And could you please tell us and the court what
14 that understanding was?
15 A. Under no circumstances would I be imprisoned or
16 face jail time. I would have no more than a four-year
17 sentence. I would be requested to reimburse, or I think the
18 term restitution, those three sets of individuals that I
19 would be charged with, and that would be the basic outline
20 to which I was operating, under my understanding.
21 Q. And with respect -- you had that understanding and
22 you ultimately went ahead and testified in the case,
23 correct, against Mr. Strader?
A. I did.
(For additional portions of Bernice testimony see complete file)
COERCION OR INTIMIDATION OF WITNESSES
There is a serious due process taint whenever the State interferes with testimony, and no showing of prejudice is necessary where such interference is caused by intentional conduct of the State aimed at preventing a witness from testifying freely.
* * (see complete file for case studies) * *
In discussing the per se rule, the Court quoted from
One reason is that this due process violation will almost always be harmful, and it will be very difficult for a court to determine when it is not. This is because a court will seldom be able to determine exactly what evidence would have been brought out had the witness been allowed to testify freely. Furthermore, since a constitutional violation is involved, a court would have to be able to conclude that the absence of this unknown testimony was harmless beyond a reasonable doubt. . . . Even if a court could say with the requisite certainty that the omitted testimony would not have changed the outcome of the case, the defendant still should be allowed to attempt to change that outcome by presenting his witnesses. A final reason supports our conclusion. We cannot imagine that such a violation of due process would result from anything but intentional conduct on the part of the government, and a per se rule would be the best deterrent to such conduct.
(For additional case studies see the full file)
KNOWING USE OF PERJURED TESTIMONY
In Mooney v. Holohan, 294 U.S. 103, 55 S. Ct. 340 (1935), the Supreme Court addressed a habeas petitionerís claim that he was deprived of due process by the Stateís knowing use of perjured testimony and deliberate suppression of evidence which would have impeached and refuted the perjured testimony.
(For additional case studies see the full file)
AGREEMENTS TO BE DISCLOSED
It is not necessary that an agreement with a witness be ironclad before it must be disclosed. Marrow v. State, 483 So. 2d 17, 19 (Fla. 2d DCA 1985). Even tacit understandings or incomplete agreements must be disclosed as the jury is entitled to know all of the facts bearing on a witnessí credibility.
(For additional case studies see the full file)
APPLICATION OF RELEVANT STANDARDS
In the instant case, the State induced Pernice to cooperate extensively with it for well over a year by assuring him that he would not receive jail time. (footnote: Instead of advising defense counsel of the witnessí claim that he had had an understanding with the State before Straderís trial, Hill and Durdenís remedial measure was to threaten full prosecution of Pernice if he did not accept what the State was offering at the time.)
On the morning he was scheduled to testify, Pernice met with Durden and Zeller in Durdenís office. During this conference, Durden advised Pernice that he would be asking Pernice about what promises that Pernice might have been made. Pernice related his understanding that he was not going to receive jail time, and Durden, who had already told the jury that Pernice would say that absolutely no promises had been made, apparently panicked. Durden then discouraged and ultimately threatened Pernice that if he told the jury about that understanding that it would not be honored and that his extensive cooperation would be used to prosecute and imprison him. Given the amount of information that Pernice had supplied, he had no choice but to capitulate to these demands. Since Durdenís credibility with the jury was on the line, given his announcement in opening argument as to what Pernice was going to say, Durden went over and over the question, again and again, until Pernice was ready to unequivocally deny that any promises had been made.
Despite his obvious credibility in the courtroom, Perniceís version of the
meeting in Durdenís office is particularly credible when one considers Zellerís
notes and the fact that Pernice had never seen Zellerís notes before he
testified on
In short, the preponderance of credible evidence reflects that Pernice committed perjury at Straderís trial when he testified that no promises had been made to him for his cooperation or testimony. Pernice now admits that these statements were false and that he knew they were false at the time he made them. He fully acknowledges that he was promised, prior to Straderís trial, that under no circumstance would he go to jail or prison.
Perniceís testimony was corroborated by Ray Rafool, Perniceís criminal
attorney, Cheryl Jerome (
Ultimately, Rafool confronted Hill, Durden and Zeller regarding his client
and Cheryl Jeromeís claim that a promise of no jail time was not being honored.
Knowing that Pernice had testified in Straderís trial just weeks before that no
such deal was ever made, neither Hill nor Durden took any remedial measures to
bring Perniceís claim to the contrary to the attention of defense counsel or
this Court. See R. Reg.
All of those facts come into even clearer focus when the circumstantial
evidence is examined. Between May of 1994 and the conclusion of Straderís
trial, State investigators and Pernice worked hand in hand in the prosecution
of Strader. Pernice consented to wiretaps of his phone; waived his
accountant-client privilege; gave extensive statements and debriefings;
regularly fielded phone calls from investigators; and made his office available
to investigators to interview witness and review documents. Durden, Brent Rose,
Zeller, and Kathy Kushner all referred to him as
Given Straderís defense that it was Pernice who had conned Strader and Straderís investors, Perniceís credibility was central to the defenseís strategy. Edmunds testified that he probably would not have called Strader to testify had he been able to discredit Pernice by showing an agreement with the State. At minimum, Edmunds offered that he believed that the jury would have considered Straderís testimony in a whole different light had it known of Perniceís motive to testify falsely. In any event, the record before this Court clearly demonstrates that a key defense strategy was to establish that Pernice had committed the crime by enlisting Straderís unwitting participation and that he was lying about that fact to please prosecutors.
In short, this Court should find that Strader has sufficiently demonstrated that the State obtained his conviction through the knowing use of the false testimony of Pernice and deliberately suppressed evidence which would have revealed the falsity of Perniceís testimony. Moreover, this Court should find that Strader has demonstrated a reasonable likelihood that the false testimony could have affected the verdict. Certainly, the State, as the beneficiary of the error, has not and cannot establish beyond a reasonable doubt that the error did not contribute to the verdict. As a result, vacation of the judgment and sentence is mandated.
REMEDIAL CONSIDERATIONS
The injury this Court is being asked to remedy is not only an injury to Dan Strader but an injury to this Court and the publicís confidence in it as an impartial tribunal of justice. For Dan Strader, having elected to place his liberty and the future of his entire family in the hands of Lady Justice on the belief that he would at least receive a fair shake at proving his innocence, no remedy will be completely adequate at this point in time. While vacation of his judgment and sentence will undo the wrong intentionally committed against him, it is doubtful if Dan Strader could ever receive a fair trial on these charges in light of the extensive manipulation of testimony. Therefore, upon reaching the only possible conclusion available, that the judgment and sentence must be vacated, this Court should bar re-prosecution of the Defendant altogether. There appears to be no other way to close such a dark chapter in the history of this Court. Alternatively, this Court should grant Dan Strader a new trial with such other remedial measures as it deems appropriate. Our constitutionís command of fundamental fairness demands no less.
CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE
I HEREBY CERTIFY that a true and correct copy of the foregoing was furnished by Hand Delivery to E.A. Nelson, Esq., Office of the State Attorney, this __ day of March, 2001.
THE CIRCUIT COURT OF THE TENTH JUDICIAL CIRCUIT
IN AND
STATE OF
CASE NO. CF94-2235A1-XX
vs.
DANIEL D. STRADER
SUPPLEMENTAL MEMORANDUM OF LAW IN
SUPPORT OF MOTION FOR POST-CONVICTION RELIEF
The Defendant, DANIEL D. STRADER, files this Supplemental Memorandum of Law in Support of Motion for Post-conviction Relief, and says:
INTRODUCTION
The Defendant has consistently maintained that Gary J. Pernice lied at the Defendantís trial to curry favor with prosecutors. However, what has transpired before this Court paints a much darker portrait -- one that depicts the extent to which a prosecutor was willing to bend the rules of fair play and exploit the vulnerability of a witness in order to nail down a conviction in an unusually high-profile case. Once this Court considers all of the direct and circumstantial evidence, in light of its experience and common sense, there can be little doubt what has occurred in this case. The evidence ineluctably leads to the conclusion that Dan Strader was deprived of his liberty through a trial process that was intentionally distorted by an officer of the court.
BACKGROUND
On June 3, 1994, the State filed a 267 count Information against the Defendant charging him with racketeering, conspiracy to commit racketeering, organized fraud, sale of securities by an unregistered dealer (66 counts), sale of unregistered securities (66 counts), securities fraud (66 counts), and grand theft (66 counts). Over a year later, on June 12, 1995, trial commenced on the Second Amended Information charging the Defendant with 250 counts, including racketeering, conspiracy to commit racketeering, sale of securities by an unregistered dealer (62 counts), sale of unregistered securities (62 counts), securities fraud (62 counts), and grand theft (62 counts). In opening argument, Assistant State Attorney Wayne Durden advised the jury that key state witness, Gary J. Pernice, would be testifying and that he would tell the jury that he had been made absolutely no promises whatsoever for his testimony.
Pernice testified at length during the Stateís case-in-chief and denied on
direct examination, and during cross-examination, that any promises had been
made to him in order to obtain his cooperation and testimony in the Defendantís
prosecution. On the last day of trial, the defense was contacted by a witness
from
Pernice was re-called to testify after the Barnes tape surfaced. In his second appearance, he bolstered his previous testimony that there was no ìdealî with the State and again unequivocally denied that there had been any promises made to him by the State.
The Defendant was found guilty of racketeering, conspiracy to commit racketeering, 59 counts of sale of securities by an unregistered dealer, 59 counts of sale of unregistered securities, 61 counts of securities fraud, and 57 counts of grand theft of one degree or another. He was sentenced to 45 years in state prison, followed by 25 years probation with a special condition thereof that he make restitution in the amount of $3,069,330.08.
On
Pernice was not charged with 250 counts but instead was charged with only three counts of grand theft pursuant to an agreement with the State that he receive no more than 4 years. Interestingly, at Perniceís sentencing, former Assistant State Attorney Brent Rose, the original lead Prosecutor for the State in the Defendantís case, spoke on behalf of Pernice.
On December 15, 1997, the Defendant filed his 3.850 Petition for Post Conviction Relief or in the Alternative Motion for New Trial on Newly Discovered Evidence alleging Brady and Giglio violations, trial counselís failure to prepare or investigate, trial counselís representation of conflicting interests, trial counselís failure to depose more than one of 155 State witnesses, and the courtís failure to provide trial counsel or the Defendant with adequate tools to mount his defense. The Defendant thereafter filed his Supplement to 3.850 Petition for Post Conviction Relief or in the Alternative Motion for New Trial on Newly Discovered Evidence alleging that the State concealed the cooperation agreement with Pernice and permitted the witness to give false testimony at trial concerning its existence. This Court found that an evidentiary hearing was necessary to address the claims concerning the undisclosed cooperation agreement between the State and Pernice.
On
Zeller was called as a witness and admitted to not only failing to disclose the Terry Barnes tape but also to failing to disclose other witnesses he had spoken to that had knowledge of fraudulent activity committed by Pernice. Zeller testified that he did not point out the existence of the tape-recorded statements to trial counsel in connection with the Stateís discovery disclosure. Zeller denied ever threatening or promising Pernice anything in connection with his criminal status before the Defendantís trial. Zeller, although he had taken an oath to tell the whole truth, never mentioned that Pernice had responded equivocally on the morning of his trial testimony to Durdenís questions concerning what he expected to receive in exchange for his cooperation. Zeller also never mentioned that Rafool claimed that Pernice and Jerome had been led to believe that there was a deal.
Similarly, Durden denied having made any promises to Pernice in exchange for his testimony. Durden stated that prior to the Defendantís trial he advised Pernice that he potentially would be charged with everything that the Defendant was charged with. Durden, who also took an oath to tell the whole truth, never mentioned the conference in his office before Perniceís testimony, the fact that Pernice had equivocated when asked what his understanding of the arrangement was, or the claims made by Rafool. Durden assured this Court that nothing had been implied to Pernice. Durden also testified that he was unaware of Terry Barnes before Straderís trial.
A follow up hearing was held in which this Court, upon request of defense counsel, entered an order recusing the State Attorney's Office for the Tenth Judicial Circuit from making the decision whether or not to grant Pernice immunity in order that he may be heard. The State Attorney's Office filed a motion for rehearing, which was denied, a petition for writ of certiorari, which was denied, and an appeal, which was dismissed. Eventually, Governor Bush appointed the State Attorney's Office for the Thirteenth Judicial Circuit to review whether to grant Pernice immunity. The State ultimately declined to grant the limited immunity requested, although Pernice's testimony would conclusively determine whether a Brady, Giglio or Due Process violation occurred.
On
Pernice related in pertinent part:
8 Q. Yes. Did you have an understanding as to what the
9 arrangement was with the State of
10 assistance, cooperation, and testimony in the Strader
11 matter?
12 A. I did have an understanding.
13 Q. And could you please tell us and the court what
14 that understanding was?
15 A. Under no circumstances would I be imprisoned or
16 face jail time. I would have no more than a four-year
17 sentence. I would be requested to reimburse, or I think the
18 term restitution, those three sets of individuals that I
19 would be charged with, and that would be the basic outline
20 to which I was operating, under my understanding.
21 Q. And with respect -- you had that understanding and
22 you ultimately went ahead and testified in the case,
23 correct, against Mr. Strader?
24 A. I did.
* * *
1 Q. And what did you express to them concerning your
2 understandings as related to this arrangement you had with
3 the state for your cooperation and testimony?
4 A. I cannot say that the specific words that I used
5 earlier here were expressed, but my implication was the
6 arrangements that we had made would be honored.
7 Q. And ----
8 A. And I don't remember the exact words or the direct
9 -- exact conversation, but the question was asked as you
10 said, and what did I respond, in essence, my understanding
11 of what the state intended to do in my situation.
12 Q. What did Mr. Durden tell you about that in your
13 meeting with him that day in his office before you testified
14 in front of the jury?
15 A. I understand what we're talking about. I need to
16 confer with my attorney.
17 (There was a brief break and the hearing continued
18 with the same appearances.)
19 MR. ALVAREZ: Judge, just for the record, this is
20 part of our Fifth Amendment objection. I know we have
21 a continuing objection, but there's a little twist on
22 this answer, and I would certainly as part of the -- of
23 the argument that I made before the court ----
24 THE COURT: And I understand the question that's
25 presently pending was what did Mr. Durden say in
76
1 response to his announcements.
2 MR. BATTAGLIA: I can rephrase.
3 THE COURT: Go ahead.
4 Q. (By Mr. Battaglia) Yeah. With respect to that,
5 Mr. Pernice, what did Mr. Durden indicate to you concerning
6 this arrangement with respect to the state? What did he
7 tell you?
8 A. I can't use the exact words, but I can remember
9 the reaction. He was thoroughly discouraging of me reciting
10 that information before the jury.
11 Q. When you say information, about this agreement;
12 correct?
13 A. When I explained to him -- he asked the question,
14 something along the lines that you did, what do you expect
15 -- if I ask you this question in the courtroom, do we have a
16 deal or whatever, and I explained my understanding, which
17 had always been and had been clearly iterated in my presence
18 with Mr. Rose and Mr. Durden and Mr. Zellers and others, and
19 when I -- when I responded as I did to you, the reaction was
20 most threatening and most discouraging of that, as the
21 answer that I would be permitted to say in that courtroom.
22 Q. And he was upset about you raising that issue;
23 correct?
24 A. I wouldn't use the word upset. I know he probably
25 anticipated it. He made it very clear to me that I had
77
1 voluntarily given two days of deposition a year earlier and
2 that if I answered the question in the courtroom as I had
3 indicated to him about my understanding, that that
4 understanding would not be honored, and that I should
5 consider the fact that there were two days of depositions
6 given a year earlier.
7 Q. Now, he told you in response that he didn't want
8 you to tell the jury about this arrangement. Isn't that
9 what he said?
10 A. I can't use the words that he used, as it was
11 sometime ago. I recall him asking the question over and
12 over and over until he was satisfied of the answer that I
13 gave. He was very concerned that I was so uncomfortable
14 with the answer that I was being required to give.
15 Q. And so he asked you the question over and over
16 again until the response was that you testified at trial
17 that there were no promises or benefits you'll receive from
18 the State of Florida. That's what made him happy; right?
19 A. As I recall, that is the thing -- that seemed to
20 satisfy his grilling of me in his office.
21 Q. And he indicated to you that was obviously -- that
22 particular discussion that you all had concerning this
23 arrangement, he had did not want you to tell anybody about
24 that when you actually testified in the courtroom, or
25 discuss it, or at least reference it, correct, in your
78
1 testimony?
2 A. If I referenced it, it was his clear indication
3 that he would not honor it and that I should be very leery
4 of my concerns based on all the cooperation that I'd given.
5 There was an awful lot of information given.
COERCION OR INTIMIDATION OF WITNESSES
There is a serious due process taint whenever the State interferes with testimony,
and no showing of prejudice is necessary where such interference is caused by
intentional conduct of the State aimed at preventing a witness from testifying
freely. See Demps v. State, 416 So. 2d 808, 810 (Fla. 1982). In Demps, the
Florida Supreme Court, based on Webb v. Texas, 409 U.S. 95, 93 S. Ct. 351, 34
L.Ed.2d 330 (1972), and United States v. Hammond, 598 F.2d 1008 (5th Cir.),
affíd on rehíg, 605 F.2d 862 (5th Cir. 1979), adopted a per se rule of
prejudice given the serious nature of State conduct intentionally aimed at
preventing a witness from testifying freely. In discussing the per se rule, the
Court quoted from
One reason is that this due process violation will almost always be harmful, and it will be very difficult for a court to determine when it is not. This is because a court will seldom be able to determine exactly what evidence would have been brought out had the witness been allowed to testify freely. Furthermore, since a constitutional violation is involved, a court would have to be able to conclude that the absence of this unknown testimony was harmless beyond a reasonable doubt. . . . Even if a court could say with the requisite certainty that the omitted testimony would not have changed the outcome of the case, the defendant still should be allowed to attempt to change that outcome by presenting his witnesses. A final reason supports our conclusion. We cannot imagine that such a violation of due process would result from anything but intentional conduct on the part of the government, and a per se rule would be the best deterrent to such conduct.
Demps, 416 So. 2d at 810 (quoting Hammond, 598 F.2d at 1013). The Court, in addressing Dempsí claim that State officials induced a defense witness to change his testimony or remain silent by promising early parole, concluded that ìwe believe the interests of justice are best served by assuming prejudice to the defendant under the circumstances of this case.î Id.; see also United States v. Goodwin, 625 F.2d 693 (Former 5th Cir. 1980); United States v. Henricksen, 564 F.2d 197 (Former 5th Cir. 1977); United States v. Morrison, 535 F.2d 223 (3rd Cir. 1976); and United States v. Thomas, 488 F.2d 334 (6th Cir. 1973).
KNOWING USE OF PERJURED TESTIMONY
In Mooney v. Holohan, 294 U.S. 103, 55 S. Ct. 340 (1935), the Supreme Court addressed a habeas petitionerís claim that he was deprived of due process by the Stateís knowing use of perjured testimony and deliberate suppression of evidence which would have impeached and refuted the perjured testimony. In discussing the constitutional requirements of due process, the Court noted:
It is a requirement that cannot be deemed to be satisfied by mere notice and hearing if a state has contrived a conviction through the pretense of a trial which in truth is but used as a means of depriving a defendant of liberty through a deliberate deception of court and jury by the presentation of testimony known to be perjured. Such a contrivance by a state to procure the conviction and imprisonment of a defendant is as inconsistent with the rudimentary demands of justice as is the obtaining of a like result by intimidation.
294 U.S. at 112, 55 S. Ct. at 342. Seven years later, the Court revisited a
similar claim in Pyle v. Kansas, 317 U.S. 213, 216, 63 S. Ct. 177, 178 (1942),
in which the habeas petitioner alleged ìthat his imprisonment resulted from
perjured testimony, knowingly used by the State to obtain his conviction, and
from the deliberate suppression by those same authorities of evidence favorable
to him.î The Court held that such allegations sufficiently charge a deprivation
of rights guaranteed by the Federal Constitution, and, if proven, would entitle
petitioner to release from custody.
Similarly, in Napue v. Illinois, 360 U.S. 264, 79 S. Ct. 1173 (1959), and
Giglio v. United States, 405 U.S. 150, 92 S. Ct. 763, 31 L.Ed.2d 104 (1972),
the Court addressed claims alleging that prosecutors knowingly permitted
cooperating co-conspirators to falsely deny that promises of leniency had been
made to them in exchange for their testimony and deliberately withheld evidence
tending to show that such promises had been made. In Napue, the cooperating
witness, Hamer, testified that he had received no promise of consideration in
exchange for his testimony. 360 U.S. at 265, 79 S. Ct. at 1175. The Assistant
State Attorney did nothing to correct the testimony.
Citing its decisions in Mooney and Pyle, the Court recognized that a
conviction obtained through the use of false testimony, known to be such by representatives
of the State, must fall under the Fourteenth Amendment.
The principle that a State may not knowingly used false evidence, including false testimony, to obtain a tainted conviction, implicit in any concept of ordered liberty, does not cease to apply merely because the false testimony goes only to the credibility of the witness. The juryís estimate of the truthfulness and reliability of a given witness may well be determinative of guilt or innocence, and it is upon such subtle factors as the possible interest of the witness in testifying falsely that a defendantís life or liberty may depend.
Further, the Court rejected the Stateís argument that since other
evidence tending to establish Hamerís interest in testifying against Napue was
presented to the jury that the violation was harmless.
In Giglio, the Court addressed Giglioís claim that the Assistant United
States Attorney who initially obtained an indictment against Giglio had
promised the cooperating witness that he would not be prosecuted if he
testified in Giglioís trial but that a different Assistant United States
Attorney trying Giglioís case was unaware of the promise when the witness
falsely denied it had been made. 405 U.S. at 152-153, 92 S. Ct. at 765.
Reviewing its decisions in Mooney, Pyle, Napue and Brady v. Maryland, 373 U.S.
83, 83 S. Ct. 1194, 10 L.Ed.2d 215 (1963), the Court held that in considering
such claims, a new trial is required if ìthe false testimony could in any reasonable
likelihood have affected the judgment of the jury.î Id. at 154, 92 S. Ct. at
766 (quoting Napue, 360 U.S. at 271, 79 S. Ct. at 1178). The Court reversed
Giglioís conviction notwithstanding the good faith of the attorney trying the
case who had no knowledge of his predecessorís promise at the time the witness
testified.
In United States v. Agurs, 427 U.S. 97, 96 S. Ct. 2392, 49 L.Ed.2d 342
(1976), the Court explicitly recognized that the standard for granting a new
trial was considerably lower when the prosecutor knowingly used perjured
testimony as opposed to mere non-disclosure of material information. Citing to
Mooney, the Court stated ìthat a conviction obtained by the knowing use of
perjured testimony is fundamentally unfair, and must be set aside if there is
any reasonable likelihood that the false testimony could have affected the
judgment of the jury.î 427 U.S. at 103, 96 S. Ct. at 2397 (emphasis supplied).
The
In United States v. Bagley, 473 U.S. 667, 679 n. 9, 105 S. Ct. 3375, 3382 n.
9, 87 L.Ed.2d 481 (1985), the Court equated the standard applicable to claims
of knowing use of perjured testimony with the harmless error standard adopted
in Chapman v. California, 386 U.S. 18, 87 S. Ct. 824, 17 L.Ed.2d 705 (1967),
under which the beneficiary of the error (the government) must prove beyond a
reasonable doubt that the error complained of did not contribute to the
verdict. This heightened standard, even at the post-conviction relief stage, is
simply a recognition of the fact that the knowing use of perjured testimony is
a ìcorruption of the truth-seeking function of the trial process.î Agurs, 427
AGREEMENTS TO BE DISCLOSED
It is not necessary that an agreement with a witness be ironclad before it must be disclosed. Marrow v. State, 483 So. 2d 17, 19 (Fla. 2d DCA 1985). Even tacit understandings or incomplete agreements must be disclosed as the jury is entitled to know all of the facts bearing on a witnessí credibility. See Porterfield v. State, 472 So. 2d 882, 885 (Fla. 1st DCA 1985). The focus should be on whether ëa tentative promise of leniency might be interpreted by [the] witness as contingent upon the nature of his testimony.î Id. (quoting Campbell v. Reed, 594 F.2d 4 (4th Cir. 1979)); see also Marrow, 483 So. 2d at 19.
A defendantís right to impeach a witness concerning any deals that may have been made or any understandings that may have been reached between the state and its witness does not hinge on whether in fact any such deals or understandings were effected, but rather the witnessís belief or disbelief that a deal exists.
Fla.Jur.2d, Evidence and Witnesses ß 948 (1995). Thus, the witnessí belief that such an understanding may or may not exist is the critical consideration.
The witnessí belief should not be coached, influenced or manipulated into conforming with that of the prosecutor, especially where the witness is particularly vulnerable as a result of his own participation in the alleged criminal episode.
As quoted in Mathews v. State, 44 So.2d 664, 669 (Fla. 1950), in interviews with witnesses before trial, the examiner ìmust exercise the utmost care and caution to extract and not inject information, and by all means to resist the temptation to influence or bias the testimony of the witnesses.î
Lee v. State, 324 So.2d 694, 698 (Fla. 1976). Likewise, where the prosecutor knows of the witnessí belief and permits him to testify falsely, there exists a constitutional violation whether or not a deal actually existed.
FAILURE TO DISCLOSE EXCULPATORY EVIDENCE
In Brady, 373 U.S. at 87, 83 S. Ct. at 1196, the Court held that ìthe suppression
by the prosecution of evidence favorable to an accused upon request violates
due process where the evidence is material either to guilt or punishment,
irrespective of the good faith or bad faith of the prosecution.î The duty to
disclose such evidence exists even in the absence of a specific request, Agurs,
supra, and applies to impeachment evidence as well as exculpatory evidence.
Bagley, 473 U.S. at 676, 105 S. Ct. at 3380. Borrowing from the standard set
forth in Strickland v. Washington, 466
Our own Florida Supreme Court, citing Strickler v. Greene, 527 U.S. 263 (1999), recently recognized:
These cases, together with earlier cases condemning the knowing use of perjured testimony, illustrate the special role played by the American prosecutor in the search for truth in criminal trials. Within the federal system, for example, we have said that the United States Attorney is ìthe representative not of an ordinary party to a controversy, but of a sovereignty whose obligation to govern impartially is as compelling as its obligation to govern at all; and whose interest, therefore, in a criminal prosecution is not that it shall win a case, but that justice shall be done.î Berger v. United States, 295 U.S. 78, 88 (1935).
APPLICATION OF RELEVANT STANDARDS
In the instant case, the State induced Pernice to cooperate extensively with it for well over a year by assuring him that he would not receive jail time. On the morning he was scheduled to testify, Pernice met with Durden and Zeller in Durdenís office. During this conference, Durden advised Pernice that he would be asking Pernice about what promises that Pernice might have been made. Pernice related his understanding that he was not going to receive jail time, and Durden, who had already told the jury that Pernice would say that absolutely no promises had been made, apparently panicked. Durden then discouraged and ultimately threatened Pernice that if he told the jury about that understanding that it would not be honored and that his extensive cooperation would be used to prosecute and imprison him. Given the amount of information that Pernice had supplied, he had no choice but to capitulate to these demands. Since Durdenís credibility with the jury was on the line, given his announcement in opening argument as to what Pernice was going to say, Durden went over and over the question, again and again, until Pernice was ready to unequivocally deny that any promises had been made.
Despite his obvious credibility in the courtroom, Perniceís version of the
meeting in Durdenís office is particularly credible when one considers Zellerís
notes and the fact that Pernice had never seen Zellerís notes before he
testified on
In short, the preponderance of credible evidence reflects that Pernice committed perjury at Straderís trial when he testified that no promises had been made to him for his cooperation or testimony. Pernice now admits that these statements were false and that he knew they were false at the time he made them. He fully acknowledges that he was promised, prior to Straderís trial, that under no circumstance would he go to jail or prison.
Perniceís testimony was corroborated by Ray Rafool, Perniceís criminal
attorney, Cheryl Jerome (
Ultimately, Rafool confronted Hill, Durden and Zeller regarding his client and
Cheryl Jeromeís claim that a promise of no jail time was not being honored.
Knowing that Pernice had testified in Straderís trial just weeks before that no
such deal was ever made, neither Hill nor Durden took any remedial measures to
bring Perniceís claim to the contrary to the attention of defense counsel or
this Court. See R. Reg.
All of those facts come into even clearer focus when the circumstantial
evidence is examined. Between May of 1994 and the conclusion of Straderís
trial, State investigators and Pernice worked hand in hand in the prosecution
of Strader. Pernice consented to wiretaps of his phone; waived his accountant-client
privilege; gave extensive statements and debriefings; regularly fielded phone
calls from investigators; and made his office available to investigators to
interview witness and review documents. Durden, Brent Rose, Zeller, and Kathy
Kushner all referred to him as
Given Straderís defense that it was Pernice who had conned Strader and Straderís investors, Perniceís credibility was central to the defenseís strategy. Edmunds testified that he probably would not have called Strader to testify had he been able to discredit Pernice by showing an agreement with the State. At minimum, Edmunds offered that he believed that the jury would have considered Straderís testimony in a whole different light had it known of Perniceís motive to testify falsely. In any event, the record before this Court clearly demonstrates that a key defense strategy was to establish that Pernice had committed the crime by enlisting Straderís unwitting participation and that he was lying about that fact to please prosecutors.
In short, this Court should find that Strader has sufficiently demonstrated that the State obtained his conviction through the knowing use of the false testimony of Pernice and deliberately suppressed evidence which would have revealed the falsity of Perniceís testimony. Moreover, this Court should find that Strader has demonstrated a reasonable likelihood that the false testimony could have affected the verdict. Certainly, the State, as the beneficiary of the error, has not and cannot establish beyond a reasonable doubt that the error did not contribute to the verdict. As a result, vacation of the judgment and sentence is mandated.
REMEDIAL CONSIDERATIONS
The injury this Court is being asked to remedy is not only an injury to Dan Strader but an injury to this Court and the publicís confidence in it as an impartial tribunal of justice. For Dan Strader, having elected to place his liberty and the future of his entire family in the hands of Lady Justice on the belief that he would at least receive a fair shake at proving his innocence, no remedy will be completely adequate at this point in time. While vacation of his judgment and sentence will undo the wrong intentionally committed against him, it is doubtful if Dan Strader could ever receive a fair trial on these charges in light of the extensive manipulation of testimony. Therefore, upon reaching the only possible conclusion available, that the judgment and sentence must be vacated, this Court should bar re-prosecution of the Defendant altogether. There appears to be no other way to close such a dark chapter in the history of this Court. Alternatively, this Court should grant Dan Strader a new trial with such other remedial measures as it deems appropriate. Our constitutionís command of fundamental fairness demands no less.
CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE
I HEREBY CERTIFY that a true and correct copy of the foregoing was furnished by Hand Delivery to E.A. Nelson, Esq., Office of the State Attorney, this __ day of March, 2001.
Similarly, in Davis v. Alaska, 415 U.S. 308, 318, 94 S. Ct. 1105, 1111, 39 L.Ed.2d 347 (1974), the Court held that denial of defense counselís right to effectively cross-examine a key witness concerning the witnessí bias or potential motivation to testify falsely was ìconstitutional error of the first magnitude and no amount of showing of want of prejudice would cure it.î Such a per se rule is equally justified in this case where an intentional act deprive defense counsel of the ability to effectively cross-examine a witness, a central component of the Sixth Amendmentís Confrontation Clause right. Cf. Bagley, 473 U.S. at 677-678, 105 S. Ct. at 3381 (refusing to apply Davis per se rule to non-disclosures).
The State apparently claims that Perniceís cooperation was obtained not by inducement but by telling him that if he did not cooperate that he would be charged with everything that Strader had been charged with and immediately arrested. If that is true, implicit in such a statement is that he will not be charged with everything or immediately arrested if he does cooperate. Alternatively, it is just a naked threat to a material witness. In either event, the entire transaction should have been disclosed to defense counsel.
Instead of advising defense counsel of the witnessí claim that he had had an understanding with the State before Straderís trial, Hill and Durdenís remedial measure was to threaten full prosecution of Pernice if he did not accept what the State was offering at the time.
PAGE 30
One reason is that this due process violation will almost always be harmful, and it will be very difficult for a court to determine when it is not. This is because a court will seldom be able to determine exactly what evidence would have been brought out had the witness been allowed to testify freely. Furthermore, since a constitutional violation is involved, a court would have to be able to conclude that the absence of this unknown testimony was harmless beyond a reasonable doubt. . . . Even if a court could say with the requisite certainty that the omitted testimony would not have changed the outcome of the case, the defendant still should be allowed to attempt to change that outcome by presenting his witnesses. A final reason supports our conclusion. We cannot imagine that such a violation of due process would result from anything but intentional conduct on the part of the government, and a per se rule would be the best deterrent to such conduct.
,"we believe the interests of justice are best served by assuming prejudice to the defendant under the circumstances of this case." Demps v. State
It is a requirement that cannot be deemed to be satisfied by mere notice and hearing if a state has contrived a conviction through the pretense of a trial which in truth is but used as a means of depriving a defendant of liberty through a deliberate deception of court and jury by the presentation of testimony known to be perjured. Such a contrivance by a state to procure the conviction and imprisonment of a defendant is as inconsistent with the rudimentary demands of justice as is the obtaining of a like result by intimidation. Mooney v. Holohan 294 U.S. 103 1935 "that his imprisonment resulted from perjured testimony, knowingly used by the State to obtain his conviction, and from the deliberate suppression by those same authorities of evidence favorable to him." Pyle v. Kansas 317 U.S. 213 1942 The principle that a State may not knowingly used false evidence, including false testimony, to obtain a tainted conviction, implicit in any concept of ordered liberty, does not cease to apply merely because the false testimony goes only to the credibility of the witness. The jury's estimate of the truthfulness and reliability of a given witness may well be determinative of guilt or innocence, and it is upon such subtle factors as the possible interest of the witness in testifying falsely that a defendant's life or liberty may depend.
"may have had an effect on the outcome of the trial." Napue v.
Giglio v.
"the false testimony could in any reasonable likelihood have affected the judgment of the jury."
"the suppression by the prosecution of evidence favorable to an accused upon request violates due process where the evidence is material either to guilt or punishment, irrespective of the good faith or bad faith of the prosecution." TMooney, Pyle, Napue and Brady v. Maryland 373 U.S. 83 1963 "that a conviction obtained by the knowing use of perjured testimony is fundamentally unfair, and must be set aside if there is any reasonable likelihood that the false testimony could have affected the judgment of the jury."
"corruption of the truth-seeking function of the trial process." .United States v. Agurs 427 U.S. 97 1976
"if there is a reasonable probability that, had the evidence been disclosed to the defense, the result of the proceeding would have been different."
"A 'reasonable probability' is a probability sufficient to undermine
confidence in the outcome."
,Chapman v.
"Campbell v. Reed 4th Cir. 594 F.2d 4 1979 "Mathews v. State Fla.
44 So.2d 664 1950 As quoted in Mathews v. State, 44 So.2d 664, 669 (Fla. 1950),
in interviews with witnesses before trial, the examiner "must exercise the
utmost care and caution to extract and not inject information, and by all means
to resist the temptation to influence or bias the testimony of the witnesses."
Lee v.
(Strickler v. Greene 527 U.S. 263 1999 Berger v. United States 295 U.S. 78
1935 These cases, together with earlier cases condemning the knowing use of
perjured testimony, illustrate the special role played by the American
prosecutor in the search for truth in criminal trials. Within the federal
system, for example, we have said that the United States Attorney is "the
representative not of an ordinary party to a controversy, but of a sovereignty
whose obligation to govern impartially is as compelling as its obligation to
govern at all; and whose interest, therefore, in a criminal prosecution is not
that it shall win a case, but that justice shall be done." Berger v. United
States, 295 U.S. 78, 88 (1935).
Memo of Law - Strader 3.850 Hearing re Pernice COERCION OR INTIMIDATION OF WITNESSES Title
'I will raise up for them a Prophet like you from among their brethren, and will put My words in His mouth, and He shall speak to them all that I command Him. Deuteronomy 18:18
for prophecy never came by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit. 2 Peter 1:21
One of the gifts of the Spirit is
prophecy. But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to each one for the
profit of all. Well the Lord gave us the following prophetic word on July 22
and 23, 1997 about the Strader Affair and about Dr. Henry Lyons of
What was more sad and tragic was
when the board of directors of the National Baptist Convention in
The Board of Directors of the National Baptist Convention USA Inc. and the appropriate governing authorities of the National Baptist Convention USA Inc., unanimously moved and accepted the explanation of President Henry J. Lyons on issues; concerning questions raised regarding the National Baptist Convention USA Inc., President Lyons, and the affairs of the convention and President Lyons raised in the media. They unanimously voted to give, and does hereby give, President Lyons a unanimous vote of confidence and adopted that this resolution be presented to the General Body of the National Baptist Convention USA Inc.
Well here is the prophetic word the Lord gave us:
The Heavens resound with the joy you bring for delivering people and setting the captives free. The walk I have to walk is a new walk. It is full of My glory and honor and power. It is full of the gifts you have for so long asked for. It is full of the beauty of My Presence and Power in your lives and those to whom you will bring the message.
Set the captives free My children. Set the captives free. They need to know the truth about Me and My blessings and how to obtain them. They have to walk uprightly and do only what is right and think only what is pure. They have to walk in the Spirit of the Lord and hear only His voice and not theirs or others. They can be overcomers in ME. I have ordained their deliverance and desire it as the world desires pure gold.
What is precious on earth is in more than abundance in Heaven. Everything is reversed in Heaven. What is counted precious here is not precious there. The Holy Spirit is very precious both here and there and ought not to be grieved or ignored. He has been for too long ignored in the duties to which he desires to serve people on earth in guiding, leading and teaching them.
The Christian church has much to learn from Him and they have to learn it quickly. There is much work to be done for the Kingdom here on earth. And, when the time comes for them to return to Me I will repay them for their faithfulness. This you well know. I pay all of My debts.
Let the warning go forth: The Christian church must put out all the falsehoods they have for so long clung to. They must put out the false prophets, teachers and leaders that have turned faithful to material gain and away from honesty and truth. They must turn their face to Me and bow down to Me as I require of them as their Heavenly Father and they must give fair balance for work done for them.
They must stop behavior of dishonest, greedy gain and partiality to people of position and power among their ranks. They are all equal in My sight as long as they do what is right according to My Kingdom.
They belong to Me. They serve Me. They are justified by Me and no other. It is time they walked in true fear of Me as their holy God. They must return to their first love and do the work to which I have called each one of them without expecting others to do it on their behalf. They must take up their Cross each day and follow only Me and no other.
I Am tired of platitudes and false truths taught to appease their lazy ways and passion for power. What is in their heart has come out. The church is in the condition today that it is in because of their attitudes and ways. They have determined the current condition of the church on the earth.
They have no one else to blame but themselves. When I called them they did not obey My voice. Now, we see the result of that disobedience. Let no man say he is justified before God, only I can say that of him when I Am certain it is true.
The road ahead is steep for the church. They have much they have to give account for. They have to return to Me and I will give them true rest and the prosperity and promotion that comes from Me and not themselves or their relationships. I have much I need to teach My church but they have not been open to it.
Instead they have grieved My Holy Spirit and walked outside of My commandments. They have bent the rules to breaking point and beyond and then wonder why they are being exposed as though I would put up forever with such unforgivable behavior.
I demand integrity from My church and not traditions or what I have seen in worldly wisdom that has crept steadily into My body. Now, is the hour of their deliverance if they will get on their knees and surrender their lives to Me, their Master and friend.
I demand purity from the leaders of My Body. I demand accountability from the leaders of My Church. I demand integrity from the teachers of My Flock. But what have I received at their hands? What have I been given? Rape, abuse, anger, lies, deceit, deception, inaction, weakness, selfishness, despondency, despair, destruction, dishonesty, partiality, cruelty, and much, much more.
We, as a body, are not much better than the world. We are just like them in our dealings with others outside the body and with those within the body. We see sexual immorality rampant. We see material gain. We see character assassination. We see lack of accountability. We see self-promotion. We see dissatisfaction of position. We see God’s truth being twisted into half-truths that lead many astray. We see a church that has degraded to accepting things based on the world's philosophies of life.
Since when have I changed in My approach to My Word or My Spirit or My truth! I have not changed, nor will I ever change, therefore, it is not I that must change but you My children. You must change to serve Me and do what is truly right. You must stop playing church and walk by My Spirit, Power and Inward Voice.
You must walk in the integrity seen in Daniel and Joseph. You must face imprisonment graciously and wait with faith and patience for My Deliverance. You cannot deliver yourself. You cannot promote yourself. You cannot win one battle without Me. All of your life must be dependent on Me. I promised you I would provide for all of your needs. You need not worry about where your cloths or food will come from. Yet, you insist on fearing and trusting your personal instincts. Faith is more than a smattering of common sense and a large dollop of worldly wisdom.
It is seeing all of your personal affairs being directed by My powerful yet invisible hand. It is looking into the future and seeing Me in the midst of it. It is looking behind and seeing nothing there because you have laid it as My feet. It is living in My Person, in the present, because you know I care for you. I care for you and I will not let you slip out of My hand.
You have to yield—body, soul and spirit to Me. You have to surrender all of your ambitions. You have to take your hands off of your life and keep them off—as hard as that may be for you. You have to do as I command you—take your purse and garment up or lay them down just as I tell you. You are My Servant not I yours! You are My children—not I. You committed yourself in obedience to Me—not I to you.
When you are so busy in serving Me and I call to you, will you stop and hear My voice? Will you heed Me when I ask you to ‘stop’ what you are busily doing, and go do something of greater importance to My Kingdom? Can I Trust you? Can I depend upon you? Can I count on You? Or, are you just a broken foot, a clanging symbol and an empty promise?
You promised Me would serve forever! You promised Me with all of your heart, soul and mind! You promised Me no matter what the cost! Yet, when I call you do not hear, when I shout you do not answer, when I whisper you do not even take notice. This is a sad day for you and for Me for I have lost a servant. I have lost a friend. I have lost a co-worker in the battle set against us.
Don’t you know you have surrendered already to the enemy? Don’t you know he has won when he has you in his clutches? Don’t you see what he has done in leading you astray to follow after other things or other people or their ways? Don’t you see the great loss Aren’t you afraid you no longer hear Me?
Be careful my friend, stale bread still remains day old bread. Let your manna come daily to you from Heaven or you are no longer living under My covenant. It was not I who removed you, it was you who did it all by yourself. I would never break My agreement with you, only you could do this.
But, I Am a forgiving and loving Father. I forgive and love you and will receive you back into the fold. Don’t continue on in disobedience and think you are doing My work. Turn again to Me and follow after Me and I will give you rest for your soul. My children have not yet learned what it means to truly rest in Me. They don’t know that place of peace and tranquility where only we would dwell in harmony together. That place of utter peace. I await you My beloved children.
Don’t let the world have its way with you. Don’t let it destroy the path I have for you. Don’t turn your face away from Me. I await you here in our sanctuary. Our place of rest and harmony. And when you come it is I who will truly rejoice and then together we will turn the world upside-down for the Kingdom! Watch and see My great salvation! I Am able to promote and deliver you and change the world as you give Me--‘time in My Presence.’
Man can offer nothing of great value. All he has he has received from Me. He thinks his great intellect and prowess has done it for him—how obtuse of him. He is certain he is God. He forgot I Am still in My heaven caring for the universe and all that pertains to man and creation. They think because I don’t appear to them or talk to them they are alone in the great expanse about them.
Even for Christians walking in Me are so ill taught few truly know Me just as you have often said. But, I Am bringing about a change in the landscape of the United States. The material church must end and the spiritual one must begin again. The rains of the Spirit are descending from Heaven again and the release of the Holy Spirit is sure.
The hour of change is upon the Christian church and those who truly seek Me will find Me if they search with All of their hearts. I never changed or left them, it is they who left their first love. They left Me and sought after their selfish ways and forgot My truth and My commandments. They thought they could twist My truths to suit their desires and I would turn a blind eye.
I Am very indulgent but I will only do so for so long and then comes judgment because true repentance was not there. They say, ‘You can never fool mother nature,’ likewise, you cannot fool your ‘Father-God!’
I was always there waiting in the wings to see if they would turn to Me, instead, they carried on as though they were doing My will but were doing abominations in My Name. So I turned from them and they began to suffer financially and in other ways but still they could not see who was behind their problems. They always thought it was the devil but never that it could be Me?
Well, it was Me and I could easily use the devil for My purposes as I chose. They have been judged and found wanting. They robbed innocent people in My churches. They raped children and women. They quoted My truths out of context and twisted it for their own convenience. They have no compassion for the brethren except where it promoted their agendas and programs. They have forgotten Me though they protest loudly they did it All for Me!
The cries of the homeless and helpless rise up to Heaven because My church has failed Me. They did not give the cup of cold water to the needy and oppressed. They preferred their programs and control over everything to sharing the load and giving from their hearts to others freely. Lips service is not enough—I want real Christian works from the heart! Nothing else will do.
So tell them for Me, they are judged and destroyed because they forgot who I was and where I stood. They did not align themselves with Me and My Word they chose their own path and stayed in their own little corner when I told them to do justice, to walk uprightly and to care for the wounded by the roadside.
So now, I must do what I must do to restore My people and bring healing to the land. It is parched and dry from years of drought. It is time the rains fell again and the captives were all set free. My humble servants have done just that and I Am rejoicing there was one who ‘stood in the gap for Me!’
Your always, Dad
LAKELAND -
Former television evangelist Jim Bakker, convicted of stealing millions from
his followers, lambasted materialism in the ministry during a guest sermon at a
Polk County church Sunday.``We're teaching people how to get rich in the
pulpits today, and it's wrong, it's wrong, it's wrong,'' Bakker told several
thousand at the morning service at Carpenter's Home Church. ``I had to go to
prison to find out I was headed in the wrong direction.''God spoke to him while
he was in prison, Bakker said, and told him, ``Jim, I did not bring you to
prison to minister. You are arrogant. I have many men in this prison who will
witness for me. I brought you here to learn humility.''
Bakker's
downfall began in March 1987 when it was revealed he had a sexual encounter
with former church secretary Jessica Hahn in a Clearwater motel in 1980.
Bakker, 54,
was convicted in 1989 of defrauding 116,000 followers who sent him at least
$1,000 each in return for promised lodging at his religious/recreational
complex, Heritage USA near Charlotte, N.C.
Followers
were told they were buying three days and four nights at the complex every year
for the rest of their lives. Federal prosecutors said that was far more people
than the complex could accommodate, and Bakker spent the contributions to live
in luxury himself.
During his
trial, prosecutors said the scheme brought about $158 million into the Praise
the Lord television ministry that Bakker and his former wife, Tammy Faye,
founded in 1972.
Bakker
originally was sentenced to 45 years in prison, but that was twice reduced by
federal judges, and he ended up serving five years. He was released from
federal prison in December 1994 and now lives on a farm in North Carolina.
One of the
terms of his sentence was that he is barred from television ministry. But he
does tour the country as a guest preacher at churches.``I wouldn't go back to
the way things were for anything in the world,'' Bakker said during the
70-minute sermon. ``As I began to study the word of Jesus, I began to
realize that I was teaching things that were not the word of Christ,'' he said.
``We need to teach the whole word of Christ and not take a Scripture here and
one there out of context.''
Bakker
referred to his and other preachers' sermons as ``Longhorn sermons - a point
here and a point there and a lot of bull in between.'' ``We have whole
crusades teaching people how to get rich,'' he said. ``But don't fall in love
with this world. I've come back from the grave to tell you; it's Jesus, Jesus,
Jesus, not things and riches.''
The Rev.
Karl Strader, pastor of Carpenter's Home Church, told the congregation he
invited Bakker to preach because he's ``part of the family of God.''
``Another
reason is I feel our young people need to hear from someone who has been to
hell and back and has maintained his integrity.''
Strader and
Bakker have been friends for years. Bakker helped dedicate the 10,000-seat
Carpenter's Home Church in 1985. Bakker said Strader's wife, Joyce, wrote him a
letter once a week while he was in prison. ``I was one of those who helped him
build PTL,'' said Karl Strader, ``and I never did know what he did wrong,
frankly. And if he did do something wrong, I forgive him, and I know everybody
else here forgives him,'' said Strader, drawing a loud applause.
Strader
called for a ``love offering'' to help pay Bakker's expenses. "As
you know, he and his family have lost everything they had,'' said Strader.
``He's just living by faith. I know you want to participate in Jim's
rehabilitation as he goes around the country preaching God's faith.''
Karl
Strader's son, Daniel, 37, was sentenced to 45 years in prison in August. He
was convicted of 238 felony counts for bilking 57 mostly elderly investors,
some members of the church, out of $2.3 million by selling investments in
properties that didn't exist or already had liens against them.
Letter
to the Editor The Ledger
Dear Jason Geary
Your
story on Dan Strader of
Yes, Dan Strader didn't have a business. His business was to pray with the
sheep and prey on the sheep. And yes, his dad and advisor Karl Strader was just
as guilty as Dan Strader as well as the system that supported them. Dan Strader
with his evil deeds, congeniality, and arrogance was only a reflection of his
father Pastor Karl Strader
While newspapers and the Florida Justice system have been able to deal correctly and properly with many of the perpetuators of proven crime and fraud against the elderly, the system which has allowed all of this to come into being has not been looked into and dealt with, including Pastor Karl Strader of Carpenter’s Home Church and the Assemblies of God, both of Lakeland, Florida. These others should also be put in jail
Family
helps convicted swindler with Web site, e-mails to governor.
By Jason
Geary
The
Ledger Ocrober 10, 2004
jason.geary@theledger.com
BARTOW
-- Daniel Strader is turning to the Internet and Gov. Jeb Bush for salvation,
having exhausted his legal appeals.
Nine
years ago, a judge sentenced Strader -- son of Karl Strader, founder of one of
In
March, a federal judge denied Strader's request for a writ of habeas corpus --
effectively ending his chance of reducing or overturning his sentence through
the courts.
So his
family began a letter-writing campaign, focused on persuading Bush to reduce
his sentence.
About a
month ago, the family created a Web site to jumpstart what it refers to as a
"divine intervention."
The site
includes essays from the 46year-old inmate about his divorce and incarceration,
updates on his appeals, pictures of Strader with his son and daughter and a
"Free Dan" graphic that explains the clemency process and how to
write a letter of support to Bush.
"He
needs to be with his family -especially his 16-year-old son who has
leukemia," said Karl Strader, the 75year-old patriarch of Carpenter's
So far,
Strader's cyberspace campaign has generated a relatively lackluster response --
between 30 to 40 supportive letters, Karl Strader said.
"These
are people (like) presidents of Christian television companies," he said.
"They are really influential people who are writing. They say Jeb Bush
reads his e-mail, but I don't know."
The
state's Office of Executive Clemency was created in 1975 to assist convicted
felons seeking pardons and help in restoring their civil rights or to obtain
relief from punishment. The governor and members of the Cabinet serve as the
Clemency Board.
Inmates
make applications to the Florida Parole Commission, which investigates the
cases and makes recommendations.
In the
past 24 years, the office has commuted 118 sentences, according to state
records. That means the sentences were nullified or lessened.
"Post-conviction
relief is a rarity," said Tim Weber, the
"Clemency
is not always an easy route because it becomes political."
STRADER'S
STORY
Strader's
is not the story of a man with a vast fraudulent scheme but one of a man who
lied in a desperate attempt to save a failing business, Weber said.
In his
bid for clemency, Strader likely would argue that his trial lawyer, the late
Jack Edmund, provided an ineffective defense and that he was given an unusually
harsh punishment, Weber said.
The
harshness of Strader's sentence already appears to be a central element of his
family's talking points and strategies.
Karl
Strader described his son as a "political prisoner" who fell victim
to a media blitz in the early 1990s as eager prosecutors looked to win praise
for defending the elderly.
The
danielstrader.com Web site contains a detailed chart comparing other local high
profile fraud cases.
Daniel
Strader's co-defendant, Georgia lawyer Gary Pernice, was sentenced to spend one
weekend a month in jail for 15 years and to pay restitution.
Another
white-collar criminal convicted about the same time as Strader, Alice Faye
Redd, received a 15-year prison sentence and served 18 months for bilking $3.6
million out of people who thought they were investing in Watson Clinic.
However,
unlike those people, Strader rejected a plea bargain offering a 14-year sentence.
Instead, he went to trial and was convicted on 238 charges -ranging from theft
and conspiracy charges to securities fraud and racketeering.
Another
aspect separating Redd's case from Strader's is that Redd, who died at age 65,
received a "conditional medical release" in 1998 because of terminal
spinal cancer.
WHAT
INVESTIGATORS FOUND
Assistant
State Attorney Wayne Durden spent more than a year with three investigators
working full-time to unravel the complex web of deceit in the Strader case.
Durden
said Strader claimed to have been investing money in discount mortgages,
annuities, mutual funds, short-term loans, property development -- even hot air
balloons.
Instead,
he cashed investors' checks and returned some money to victims as fraudulent
interest or profit in what investigators described as a classic pyramid scheme.
"The
financial hardship that he (inflicted) on these victims in the case is
enormous," Durden said.
"To
this day, there is no true indication of remorse or general acknowledgment of
criminal wrongdoing. . . . Society is better off with Daniel Strader
incarcerated."
Karl
Strader contends his son was an honest businessman who intended to repay
everyone.
"There
are about half a dozen people involved in the investment who want vengeance and
want him to rot in prison," he said. "They are full of hate.
"He
has apologized to everyone for making mistakes in business, but he never
intended to defraud anyone," he said.
THE
VICTIMS' STORIES
At
Strader's trial, victims testified to being "financially ruined" and
feeling "betrayed not only by the business community but also by the
Christian community in which Mr. Daniel Strader is held in such high
regard."
Nora M.
Kuppinger, 81, who retired to
When she
met Daniel Strader in 1979, Kuppinger said she thought he was a good insurance
agent and was impressed with his morals.
"You
have faith in a man like that because he has a big religious background,"
she said.
Kuppinger
said Strader assured her she would not lose anything. She handed over $100,000.
Investigators calculate she lost about $56,000 in the scheme.
"He
took me into it," Kuppinger said. "I just felt he was so honest. Here
I am a bigcity girl from
For
years, Kuppinger said she felt embarrassed and was grateful that her husband,
John, died years before the scandal broke.
"When
he died, he thought that he'd taken good care of me," she said.
Kuppinger
said she has tried to forget Strader's lies but does not feel he should be
given clemency.
"In
this case, it was absolutely pure greed, and I have no sympathy for him at all
for what he did," she said.
Some of
Strader's victims said they do not believe they will ever see their money
again. At the time of Strader's 1995 sentencing, five of his victims had
already died.
Karl
Strader said his son continues to maintain his innocence and wants to get back
home.
The
family has managed to stay together -- calling on the telephone, writing
letters and making visits every couple of weeks to Avon Park Correctional
Facility, where Strader is incarcerated.
"We've
kept close in touch, but it's like having four hurricanes in a row -- it begins
to wear on you," Karl Strader said.
Jason
Geary can be reached at 863-533-9079 or jason.geary@theledger.com
http://www.theledger.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20041003/NEWS/410030380/1004
Dear
Friends and Family:
This year
marks my 50th anniversary in marriage and ministry with Joyce. August 2004 also
marks 9 years in prison for our son, Dan. Joyce and I both turned 75 this year,
too. Unless divine intervention takes place, we will be nearly 90 before Dan is
released.
Dan is
46. His son, Steele, was 7 when Dan was first incarcerated. Steele is now 16, a
junior at
A few
weeks ago at a reception, a precious lady said to me, "Well, I think if
Dan would just apologize the judge would let him go!"
I smiled
politely. She was sincere. However, her lack of knowledge concerning the
complexity of Dan's case and how the criminal justice system operates today was
apparent. Besides, Dan did offer an apology - a lengthy, heartfelt one. His
judge was unmoved, sentencing Dan to the equivalent of life in prison - 45
years!
Meanwhile,
all of Dan's legal remedies to overturn the conviction and sentence are
virtually exhausted and the only avenue for immediate release from prison is a
"commutation of sentence" by Governor Jeb Bush. This is done through
the Office of Executive Clemency. Dan's case is no longer a legal issue; it has
become a political one. The Governor and his cabinet have the authority to
adjust Dan's 45 year sentence to one less severe. Here's where you can help.
Just
point and click on the Free Dan graphic. It will give you simplified
instructions on the who, what, where, and when to write in support of Executive
Clemency.
One
final word, I realize that not everyone who visits this web site is a
"friend or family member." I would still encourage you to explore the
links we have to Executive Clemency for Dan. Here's why: we've provided a
comparison of Dan's sentence to 2 other similar, high-profile economic crimes
that took place in our area. The disparity of sentences is simply too great to
overlook.
Again,
please point and click on the Free Dan graphic and let's reunite Dan with his
children. Joyce and I will be forever grateful.
Sincerely,
Karl D.
Strader
http://www.danielstrader.com/
Son of
Pentecostal Preacher Cannot Get Our Of Jail
By Jeff
Scullin, The Ledger,
BARTOW --
After nearly a decade, a federal court ruling this week all but ended Daniel
Strader's appeals of his 45-year prison sentence for cheating elderly investors
out of millions of dollars.
Wednesday,
U.S. District Judge Susan Bucklew denied Strader's petition for a writ of
habeas corpus, declining Strader's request to review his claims that the state
of
Unless
Bucklew or the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in
"An
appeal is not automatic (because) the standard of review is fairly
strict," Assistant Attorney General Trish McCarthy, who handled Strader's
case, said Friday. "From our perspective, the case is at an end."
Tim
Weber, the
If
Strader decides not to appeal or the federal courts were to deny a certificate
of appealability, Bucklew's ruling would be the "end of the line" of
Strader's legal challenges, Weber said.
In 1995,
Strader -- the son of Karl Strader, pastor of Carpenter's
As
president of Interstate Financial Services, Strader, 45, organized a Ponzi
scheme that bilked 56 investors, most of whom were elderly, out of $2.3
million.
Strader's
subsequent appeals and motions for post-conviction relief failed. Two years
ago, Weber filed a petition for a writ of habeas corpus with the U.S. District
Court in
The
petition included allegations that prosecutors had withheld evidence favorable
to Strader's case and that Strader had received ineffective legal representation
because his lawyer, the late Jack Edmund, had not adequately prepared for trial
or investigated the case.
But the
heart of Strader's allegations was that prosecutors had coached their star
witness and his former business partner, Gary Pernice, to change his testimony
about promises they had made to him about receiving a lenient sentence in
exchange for his cooperation.
Pernice,
a former
Weber
said Bucklew never addressed the allegation that prosecutors coached Pernice,
which he called "the guts" of Strader's petition.
"We
do not feel that the court even addressed the primary argument that we made,
which is a little disconcerting," he said.
Other
than appealing Bucklew's ruling, Strader's remaining option for lessening his
sentence would be asking the governor for clemency. Weber said he thought
Strader would have a case for clemency based on what he described as the
inordinately lengthy sentence Strader received.
Strader
is scheduled to be released from prison in September 2024, according to the
Department of Corrections' Web site.
http://www.theledger.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20040327/NEWS/403270360/1004
Let's be clear: Daniel
Strader, the son of a prominent preacher, could have been out of jail years ago
if he'd taken the option given to him in 1995: Confess to his financial scam
and be sentenced to serve 14 years in prison (which would have been cut in half
for good behavior) for bilking 60 investors, mostly elderly, out of more than
$3 million. Many were members of a church at which his father, the Rev. Karl
Strader, was pastor.
He agreed -- and then renounced his guilt, rejected the plea, and tried to
convince a jury to let him go.
It is a decision that he and his family have much reason to come to regret.
After five weeks in court, the jury spent a mere three hours convicting him of
238 out of 240 counts of fraud. One juror told The Ledger he was let go on
those two counts because the jury "gave him the benefit of the doubt
because he had paid back their money."
Circuit Judge Bob Doyel imposed a 45-year sentence saying, "The court can
have no confidence in the word of a man who is unwilling to admit his
wrongdoing. The first step toward rehabilitation is an admission of guilt, so
it seems unlikely Mr. Strader will ever be rehabilitated."
Now Strader's family wants Florida Gov. Jeb Bush and the state Cabinet to let
Strader out of jail.
A Major Abuse of Trust
Before the governor and Cabinet members vote to give Strader a full hearing on
reducing his 45-year sentence, they owe it to Strader's victims and the cause
of justice generally to familiarize themselves with how badly Strader abused
the trust placed in him.
Just after he agreed to plead guilty in exchange for a 14-year sentence, Dan
Strader stood in the pulpit of his father's church while about 2,000 people
listened.
"So what did I do wrong?" Strader, then 36, asked the congregation as
a way to explain away his guilty plea. "I didn't follow through with the
intricate details of every business transaction to ensure the integrity of
every investment I represented."
There you have it: Sloppy bookkeeping, that's all it was. Evidently, Strader
convinced himself it was exactly that. So he withdrew his plea and went to
trial.
What happened to the sloppy bookkeeping defense? "The way he answered
(questions on the stand) just sort of indicated his guilt," Linda Detwiler,
a jury member from
If there had been accurate bookkeeping, it would have been embarrassing. During
the trial, the former manager of a check-cashing company said Strader
frequently cashed checks there in 1992 and 1993 -- so frequently that he ran up
$30,000 in fees in one month. She also testified that he had given her $5,000
in tips. Other testimony showed he was going there because officials at three
banks had closed his accounts because of bad checks.
After conviction, Strader tried to claim his defense lawyer wasn't competent.
That may have worked if the defense lawyer had been a novice. But Jack Edmund
was representing Strader. Before his death in 2002, Edmund was considered one
of the best criminal defense lawyers in the state, and he advised Strader to
stick to his plea bargain.
At a hearing last week in
There are trust accounts set up more than five years ago that potentially could
be used to repay victims. But supporters also said a bank account related to
the fund currently has only $110 in it -- the minimum needed to keep it open.
It's nothing compared with millions of dollars needed for restitution. If
people are serious about wanting Strader out of jail, there should be serious
money in it to make restitution for his crimes.
And then there was the $500,000 mortgage on development property. Daniel
Strader's supporters said it could be an asset used to pay victims. They
claimed the mortgage's validity was being questioned in an ongoing lawsuit.
But
`Earned Every Day'
State Attorney Jerry Hill, whose office prosecuted Strader, attended the
hearing. He told the aides that Strader "earned every day" he served
-- and will serve. For some, said Hill, there is no restitution because the
victims have died. Many couldn't afford their losses, and Hill said he thought
some had suffered premature deaths as a "direct result of the deceit and
harm" Strader's dealings caused.
A Web site attempting to raise support for Strader's early release notes that
one of Strader's business associates, Gary Pernice, received probation for his
part in the scam. (He was also required to spend one weekend a month for 15
years in the Polk County Jail, and ordered to pay 28 percent of any earnings
toward restitution.)
The site notes Stephen Smith of
But here's the difference: Pernice, Smith and Redd all confessed to their
crimes and settled for plea bargains. Pernice pleaded no contest to the
charges. Smith pleaded guilty to charges involving oil and gas explorations.
Redd, charged with selling bogus investments in a clinic where her husband
worked, pleaded no contest and was sentenced. (She was granted a
"conditional medical release" in 1998 because she had terminal
cancer. She died in 2002 at age 65.)
Strader rolled the dice and went to the jury -- perhaps believing they would
trust him just as much as the people who had given him money.
Members of the jury didn't buy any of Strader's excuses.
Neither should the Clemency Board.
(Published
By Thomas Roe Oldt
Supporters of imprisoned Polk con artist Daniel Strader say the 45-year sentence he received is too harsh and ought to be undone by a grant of clemency.
But State Attorney Jerry
Hill feels so strongly the other way that last week he journeyed to
Strader, who is the son of Carpenter's Home church founder the Rev. Karl Strader, was convicted in 1995 of swindling investors, many of whom were elderly and lost their life savings.
Among his petitioners was Strader's father, who asked the state clemency officials to release his son, saying he would be better able to repay his victims if not incarcerated. The imprisoned man's 16-year-old daughter also testified, saying she and her brother missed their father and wanted him home.
One can sympathize with the family tragedy the younger Strader selfishly created when he elected to steal his millions, but his family's anguish should not become a compelling reason to release him.
Strader and his supporters can talk all they want, but not everyone who lost their money to Strader is able to be heard. Some of the victims can't speak for themselves because they are dead, having expired in Strader-induced poverty.
Hill is their advocate. On Friday, he talked to The Ledger about why Strader should serve out his sentence and about the damage Strader caused his victims and society.
Though the clemency hearing focused on Strader's family, "what got us here," said Hill, "are 172 pages of charges, $3.5 million, 63 victims, 250 separate counts and a guilty verdict on each count.
"It's not as if this was a petty, poorly thought-out, one-time scam," Hill said. "Among the things you have to remember is that Danny Strader didn't make cold calls. He went to people in the church, to old friends he sold insurance to. He picked on people he knew and who trusted him. Instead of using a gun, he used trust, a smile and the confidence people had in him.
"He didn't just take a watch and a wallet," he said. "He took the trust and security from these folks, who generally were older and more vulnerable. . . . This involved people who were already close to the line financially. These were people who needed every dollar every month."
As with other clemency hearings he's attended, Hill said, he "expected to hear how he's been a counselor, a teacher, started some religious classes. There was none of that. What he's in fact done in 10 years in prison is file grievances against a judge, file appeals in every court he can find, petition the U.S. Supreme Court and complain to the Bar about every attorney involved in the case, including his own.
"His whole life is so self-centered that it has nothing to do with anything other than getting Danny out of jail," Hill said.
As for the effect on his family, "if the love of a family or the harm done to a child are grounds for releasing a felon, then we can pretty much empty the jails tomorrow," Hill said. "He created victims in his own family. That's unfortunate, but no excuse for releasing him."
Like most con artists, Strader arrogantly believed himself to be not just above the law but superior to most of the people he encountered in the legal system, including his own counsel.
What else could explain his decision to renounce, on the eve of his trial, a guilty plea that would have given him a 14-year sentence. Instead, convinced he could game the system as surely as he conned his victims out of their money, he went before a jury.
"He complains about the sentence he got," notes prosecutor Wayne Durden, "but he had his chance and gave it up."
This is a good thing for society, Durden said.
"Everybody's talking about sexual predators. Strader's a financial predator," Durden said. "Even if he were released, there would be significant restrictions on his financial capacity, so I don't know how he would pay back anybody. My concern is that others would be victimized if he were released."
Among the victims Durden remembers are "an elderly couple he hit up on Christmas Eve for tens of thousands of dollars. Strader would tell his victims anything he thought they wanted to hear in order to part them with their money. He had no scruples about what he had to do or say to get it."
Circuit Judge Robert Doyel, who presided over Strader's trial and sentenced him, noted in his sentencing report that Strader "is unwilling to acknowledge the simple truth that it was criminal for him to lie to people to get their money and then use the money for his own purposes. He evidently believes that he is above the law and that it is perfectly acceptable for him to defraud people as long as he intends eventually to pay them back."
To this day Strader has not acknowledged that "simple truth," which Doyel pointed out to the Clemency Administration in a Sept. 9 letter.
Clemency, says Hill, "is nothing more than an act of grace or mercy. Strader is entitled to exactly the same amount of clemency he granted his victims -- none."
Thomas Roe Oldt is a Winter Haven-based columnist for The Ledger. His opinion column appears on Sunday.
Published in The Ledger
By
Ledger Religion Editor
Worshipers walk past the
massive building to gather in the auditorium of
Worship services are as
lively as ever, but the worshipers easily fit in the much-smaller school
auditorium. The Carpenter's Home congregation has been worshiping there for
about two years, since not long after a deal fell through for a
Now Carpenter's Home is
one step closer to having the burden of the idle sanctuary lifted from it,
although the future of
The Rev. Karl Strader, pastor of Carpenter's Home, told the congregation Sunday that the church's board has unanimously approved a contract that would sell the sanctuary to Without Walls.
Carpenter's Home would
receive $8 million plus a 3,000-seat sanctuary in Auburndale now used by
Without Walls Central, a satellite of the
"We have a contract with a deposit in escrow, but there are several contingencies that must be met before closing, which must take place within 60 days. We are not done yet," he said. He did not say what the contingencies are.
As Strader outlined it,
the deal calls for the Without Walls Central and Carpenter's Home congregations
to exchange places, although there would be a transition period of one year
during which Carpenter's Home would continue to hold worship services in
Without Walls Central
would worship at the
Carpenter's Home would continue to own and operate Evangel for one year, Strader said, but he implied that the school's future beyond that is unclear. Referring to Evangel's principal, Mike Cooper, and Without Walls Central's pastor, Scott Thomas, Strader said, "One of the things we're hoping is that Brother Mike will get Pastor Scott to take an interest in the school so it can continue on."
Strader said the deal would enable Carpenter's Home to be free of debt and to use its resources for advertising and evangelistic outreach.
"I can't tell you what this means to me. It's a new era for us. . . . We haven't gotten behind on any bills, but we've been living on our assets the last few years and you know you can't do that," he said.
Following the service, church member Randy Baatz, who lives near the site of Without Walls Central in Auburndale, said he supported the deal.
"I want whatever God wants. It would be good to be able to pay off our debt," he said.
Without Walls International is an independent Pentecostal church that draws as many as 20,000 worshipers each week. Its pastors, Randy and Paula White, are flamboyant figures who have attracted celebrities from across the country to their services, and Paula White has a popular TV show on Christian cable channels.
The church has a wide-ranging set of ministries, from food and clothing distribution to Spanish-language programs.
Without Walls was close
to a deal to purchase the Carpenter's Home sanctuary in 2003, and the
The current deal between the churches was made public when the Whites told the Tampa Tribune last week that a contract was in the works. The report caught Carpenter's Home officials off-guard, and they were cautious in their comments, because the church board had not approved the contract and church members had not been notified about the deal. A letter was hurriedly sent out to members, and Strader said Sunday, "Randy and Paula got a little rambunctious. They're excited about it."
Strader led the First
Assembly of God of Lakeland to build the sanctuary in 1985 at a cost of $12
million, renaming the church Carpenter's Home. At the time the church had about
5,000 worshipers, a TV ministry and an FM radio station, but its fortunes fell
after an internal struggle in 1989 over Strader's leadership led several
hundred people to leave and form
About 500 people were present at two services Sunday.
In November, Carpenter's Home members approved a plan to put the sanctuary on the market and create what Strader termed a "multi-church," essentially what Without Walls has done, with multiple congregations under one name. Strader said Sunday the church had received several offers for the sanctuary and compared the process to the birth of an elephant.
"Elephants have a gestation period of 18 to 22 months, and if ever there was an elephant, it's that sanctuary," he said.
Strader thanked the worshipers for their faithfulness.
"We hope to be in at least two new locations soon. We want to be sure you go with us wherever we go. We want the best for you," he said.
http://www.theledger.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050613/NEWS/506130356/1134
Family helps convicted swindler with Web site, e-mails to governor.
By Jason Geary The Ledger jason.geary@theledger.com
BARTOW -- Daniel Strader is turning to the Internet and Gov. Jeb Bush for salvation, having exhausted his legal appeals.
Nine years ago, a judge
sentenced Strader -- son of Karl Strader, founder of one of
In March, a federal judge denied Strader's request for a writ of habeas corpus -- effectively ending his chance of reducing or overturning his sentence through the courts.
So his family began a letter-writing campaign, focused on persuading Bush to reduce his sentence.
About a month ago, the family created a Web site to jumpstart what it refers to as a "divine intervention." See http://www.danielstrader.com/
The site includes essays from the 46year-old inmate about his divorce and incarceration, updates on his appeals, pictures of Strader with his son and daughter and a "Free Dan" graphic that explains the clemency process and how to write a letter of support to Bush.
"He needs to be with
his family -especially his 16-year-old son who has leukemia," said Karl
Strader, the 75year-old patriarch of Carpenter's
So far, Strader's cyberspace campaign has generated a relatively lackluster response -- between 30 to 40 supportive letters, Karl Strader said.
"These are people (like) presidents of Christian television companies," he said. "They are really influential people who are writing. They say Jeb Bush reads his e-mail, but I don't know."
The state's Office of Executive Clemency was created in 1975 to assist convicted felons seeking pardons and help in restoring their civil rights or to obtain relief from punishment. The governor and members of the Cabinet serve as the Clemency Board.
Inmates make applications to the Florida Parole Commission, which investigates the cases and makes recommendations.
In the past 24 years, the office has commuted 118 sentences, according to state records. That means the sentences were nullified or lessened.
"Post-conviction
relief is a rarity," said Tim Weber, the
"Clemency is not always an easy route because it becomes political."
STRADER'S STORY
Strader's is not the story of a man with a vast fraudulent scheme but one of a man who lied in a desperate attempt to save a failing business, Weber said.
In his bid for clemency, Strader likely would argue that his trial lawyer, the late Jack Edmund, provided an ineffective defense and that he was given an unusually harsh punishment, Weber said.
The harshness of Strader's sentence already appears to be a central element of his family's talking points and strategies.
Karl Strader described his son as a "political prisoner" who fell victim to a media blitz in the early 1990s as eager prosecutors looked to win praise for defending the elderly.
The danielstrader.com Web site contains a detailed chart comparing other local highprofile fraud cases.
Daniel Strader's co-defendant, Georgia lawyer Gary Pernice, was sentenced to spend one weekend a month in jail for 15 years and to pay restitution.
Another white-collar criminal convicted about the same time as Strader, Alice Faye Redd, received a 15-year prison sentence and served 18 months for bilking $3.6 million out of people who thought they were investing in Watson Clinic.
However, unlike those people, Strader rejected a plea bargain offering a 14-year sentence. Instead, he went to trial and was convicted on 238 charges -ranging from theft and conspiracy charges to securities fraud and racketeering.
Another aspect separating Redd's case from Strader's is that Redd, who died at age 65, received a "conditional medical release" in 1998 because of terminal spinal cancer.
WHAT INVESTIGATORS FOUND
Assistant State Attorney Wayne Durden spent more than a year with three investigators working full-time to unravel the complex web of deceit in the Strader case.
Durden said Strader claimed to have been investing money in discount mortgages, annuities, mutual funds, short-term loans, property development -- even hot air balloons.
Instead, he cashed investors' checks and returned some money to victims as fraudulent interest or profit in what investigators described as a classic pyramid scheme.
"The financial hardship that he (inflicted) on these victims in the case is enormous," Durden said.
"To this day, there is no true indication of remorse or general acknowledgment of criminal wrongdoing. . . . Society is better off with Daniel Strader incarcerated."
Karl Strader contends his son was an honest businessman who intended to repay everyone.
"There are about half a dozen people involved in the investment who want vengeance and want him to rot in prison," he said. "They are full of hate.
"He has apologized to everyone for making mistakes in business, but he never intended to defraud anyone," he said.
THE VICTIMS' STORIES
At Strader's trial, victims testified to being "financially ruined" and feeling "betrayed not only by the business community but also by the Christian community in which Mr. Daniel Strader is held in such high regard."
Nora M. Kuppinger, 81,
who retired to
When she met Daniel Strader in 1979, Kuppinger said she thought he was a good insurance agent and was impressed with his morals.
"You have faith in a man like that because he has a big religious background," she said.
Kuppinger said Strader assured her she would not lose anything. She handed over $100,000. Investigators calculate she lost about $56,000 in the scheme.
"He took me into
it," Kuppinger said. "I just felt he was so honest. Here I am a
bigcity girl from
For years, Kuppinger said she felt embarrassed and was grateful that her husband, John, died years before the scandal broke.
"When he died, he thought that he'd taken good care of me," she said.
Kuppinger said she has tried to forget Strader's lies but does not feel he should be given clemency.
"In this case, it was absolutely pure greed, and I have no sympathy for him at all for what he did," she said.
Some of Strader's victims said they do not believe they will ever see their money again. At the time of Strader's 1995 sentencing, five of his victims had already died.
Karl Strader said his son continues to maintain his innocence and wants to get back home.
The family has managed to stay together -- calling on the telephone, writing letters and making visits every couple of weeks to Avon Park Correctional Facility, where Strader is incarcerated.
"We've kept close in touch, but it's like having four hurricanes in a row -- it begins to wear on you," Karl Strader said.
http://www.theledger.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20041003/NEWS/410030380/1004
By Jeff Scullin, The
Ledger,
BARTOW -- After nearly a decade, a federal court ruling this week all but ended Daniel Strader's appeals of his 45-year prison sentence for cheating elderly investors out of millions of dollars.
Wednesday, U.S. District
Judge Susan Bucklew denied Strader's petition for a writ of habeas corpus,
declining Strader's request to review his claims that the state of
Unless Bucklew or the
11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in
"An appeal is not automatic (because) the standard of review is fairly strict," Assistant Attorney General Trish McCarthy, who handled Strader's case, said Friday. "From our perspective, the case is at an end."
Tim Weber, the
If Strader decides not to appeal or the federal courts were to deny a certificate of appealability, Bucklew's ruling would be the "end of the line" of Strader's legal challenges, Weber said.
In 1995, Strader -- the
son of Karl Strader, pastor of Carpenter's
As president of Interstate Financial Services, Strader, 45, organized a Ponzi scheme that bilked 56 investors, most of whom were elderly, out of $2.3 million.
Strader's subsequent
appeals and motions for post-conviction relief failed. Two years ago, Weber
filed a petition for a writ of habeas corpus with the U.S. District Court in
The petition included allegations that prosecutors had withheld evidence favorable to Strader's case and that Strader had received ineffective legal representation because his lawyer, the late Jack Edmund, had not adequately prepared for trial or investigated the case.
But the heart of Strader's allegations was that prosecutors had coached their star witness and his former business partner, Gary Pernice, to change his testimony about promises they had made to him about receiving a lenient sentence in exchange for his cooperation.
Pernice, a former
Weber said Bucklew never addressed the allegation that prosecutors coached Pernice, which he called "the guts" of Strader's petition.
"We do not feel that the court even addressed the primary argument that we made, which is a little disconcerting," he said.
Other than appealing Bucklew's ruling, Strader's remaining option for lessening his sentence would be asking the governor for clemency. Weber said he thought Strader would have a case for clemency based on what he described as the inordinately lengthy sentence Strader received.
Strader is scheduled to be released from prison in September 2024, according to the Department of Corrections' Web site.
http://www.theledger.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20040327/NEWS/403270360/1004
By Cary McMullen Ledger
Religion Editor June 20, 2003
cary.mcmullen@theledger.com
Without
Inability to agree on a price doomed the sale. Jennifer Mallan, an associate pastor at Without Walls said Thursday the figures were confidential but the two sides were "a couple of million dollars" apart.
In February, negotiations
reached a stalemate when the
At that time, it appeared Without Walls would have to end the Saturday night worship services at Carpenter's Home it had started last August. Carpenter's Home canceled a lease agreement between the two, but then it appeared that negotiations revived, and Without Walls continued to hold worship services until three weeks ago.
However, Shane Simmons, Karl Strader's son-in-law and an associate pastor at Carpenter's Home who handled the church's negotiations, said Thursday that Without Walls had made no new offers.
"We were never offered anything higher than the price we turned down," he said.
The lease agreement
expired May 31 and Without Walls didn't renew it, Simmons said. Without Walls
is a multiracial congregation started in 1991 by Randy and Paula White and is
known for its emphasis on urban ministry. About a year ago, the Whites
approached Carpenter's Home senior pastor Karl Strader about the possibility of
buying the sanctuary to expand their ministry into
Carpenter's Home,
formerly First Assembly of God in
The two churches entered
into a three-stage agreement in July. In the initial stage, the Whites traveled
to
Under the terms of the agreement, after six months Without Walls could buy the sanctuary, and in a third stage, Carpenter's Home could build a smaller sanctuary on part of the site, which it would retain.
When negotiations stalled in February, there was public disagreement between the two churches over who had pulled out of the deal, but Simmons was careful to avoid recriminations this week.
"I have nothing negative to say. We couldn't agree on a price," Simmons said.
Mallan said Without Walls
had looked at another piece of property when the deal with Carpenter's Home
broke down but decided against moving into
"There was some innuendo that the work we were doing was hurting his work, and Pastor Randy didn't want that. He really wanted to honor Pastor Karl in his later years. We probably would have continued to rent, but (White) didn't want to interfere with anything Pastor Karl was doing," she said.
Mallan said Without Walls
would continue its outreach ministry in
Simmons said Carpenter's Home had no other offers and intends to expand the number of concerts and special events held at the church.
"We've added to our events staff and we're planning to do twice as many events," he said. "It's a great ministry to the community, and it's profitable to us."
The name Strader carries
weight in charismatic circles. Strader, 72, has been pastor of Carpenters Home
for 35 years and has ministered at various churches nationwide. A Pentecostal
church under the Assemblies of God denomination, Carpenters Home has owned
radio stations, hosted concerts and conferences featuring big names in
Christianity, such as evangelist Rodney Howard-Browne, gospel singer CeCe
Winans and Christian music artists Jars of Clay and Michael W. Smith reported
the St. Petersburg Times.
But the past 15 years have also carried controversy. Some Assemblies of God
leaders, including televangelist Jimmy Swaggart, have publicly questioned
Strader's theological teachings, according to the Lakeland Ledger.
"We've been to hell and back," Strader said during a recent church
service. About 800 of Strader's members left to form their own church in 1989,
after a dispute over his leadership.
Then in 1994, Strader's son, Daniel, was arrested on fraud charges. He was
convicted the next year and is serving a 45-year sentence in federal prison. A
small number of fraud victims were members of the church, causing further
tension. Strader said he believed his son was innocent and was treated unfairly
by the system. But his son's appeals have been denied. Strader asked members of
Without Walls to pray for his son's release, saying seven years behind bars was
enough for a "white collar crime."
At one time membership rolls swelled to about 5,000. Strader and a jubilant
congregation had the 10,000-seat auditorium built, believing that in time it
would be filled to capacity. Instead, attendance dwindled. (Published the
Carpenter's Home Finances
In our local news recently is a report that the Carpenter's
I wish The Ledger would investigate and publish the finances of this deal. The
Carpenter's
I have relatives who were members of that church since the 1940s, and they
helped pay for it.
I have visited often in the past and heard many of Rev. Strader's sermons. I
was puzzled why he often said in his sermons that anyone who disagreed with him
should not make a fuss, just walk out the back door and leave.
His congregation has now dwindled down and he is left with a multimilliondollar
facility.
My relatives left after Rev. Strader became a more-autocratic minister, there
were questions about his family being given jobs at the church and his son was
convicted of defrauding church members (mostly elderly ones) out of their life
savings.
It seems to me part of the problem is that the Assembly of God denomination
allows ministers to preside over board meetings instead of a church member, as
in other more democratically operated Protestant churches.
Nonetheless, it was good Assembly of God people who paid for that Carpenter's
The question before the public is, will it?
TRAVIS EPSHIRE
(Published The Ledger
Daniel Strader's brother, Stephen Strader and his sisters, Karla and Dawn also
wrote a letter which was also reprinted in the Ledger. The letter
solicited funds for Strader's legal defense. Investigators were charging him
with 259 felony counts and for scheming to defraud
"Dan is facing bankruptcy and life imprisonment because of mistakes he
made in his business. Because of these mistakes and the economy, some of
Dan's business clients have suffered losses. While many of these good people
have been willing to give Dan the opportunity to recovery financially, others
have been unwilling or unable to give Dan more time to make things right.
The system which holds Dan's fate in its hands seems almost
sinister in its inclination, conscious or not to damage Dad and the church. The
press and some of Dan's investors have not hesitated to drag out Dad and the
Church into the mire."
All we want for Danny is that he be treated fairly, and that he be given the
opportunity to set things right. He has been faithful to the Church and to his
small family [ whose electricity was cut off 14 times in one year because of
non payment of bills by Dan ]. He loves God and feels the call of God on his
life. He is seeking the Lord now more than ever in his 6 by 10 cell with only
his Bible. Being human, Danny has made mistakes, but he is sincere in his
desire to make things right. He wants all of his investors and business
associates to be made whole."
Our reasons for contacting you is to let you know about this trouble, because
we know that you will want to show your love and support to our parents. We
also want you to know how critical this situation is. Dan has no money, and
cannot afford to pay a qualified lawyer to defend himself. Our parents cannot
afford to handle the expenses of Danny's defense by themselves."
Mary wrote a letter to the Editor titled "Strader gutless, selfish"
which was printed in February, 1995, in the Ledger, concerning Daniel's
decision to withdraw his guilty plea. For Strader was accused of soliciting
investments in income producing properties and in his company and instead the
money was converted to cash and deposited for his personal use and pleaded
guilty. She stated:
A truly revolting and shameful display. The Reverend Strader should be double
ashamed - not only did he raise a criminal, he raised a gutless selfish whiner.
Later, we were to learn that Dan's parents, the Straders,
lived in a debt free $400,000 home on a lake next to a golf course drove
two luxury towncars and made a salary in the six figure bracket not including
special perks.
While other parents, who sold their homes and possessions to help one of their
daughters or sons in their time of trouble, the Straders in their usual style
asked others to contribute and made only small token contributions
themselves. For their other children protested that dad was not to spend their
inheritance in defending Dan.
If Dan was innocent as Pastor Karl Strader said many times, why didn't Karl
Strader, as a concerned parent sell any of his assets, especially the luxury
towncars to help him? This was something that haunted me and spoke loudly to me
that something was really wrong in the pastor's behavior and actions as a
Christian.
Dan Strader, who earned in prison in Florida a Master's degree in
Theology plans to co-author a book with his father,his silent thieving partner.
Dan cannot accept the
fact of his guilt in real crimes of praying with and preying on the members of
his father's church with the help of his father. Deceived Dan doesn't
understand that God resists the proud and gives grace to the humble for Roy
Aldrich, a retired school teacher, died prematurely at the age 65, as a direct
result of the stress and betrayal by his friend and pastor, Karl Strader, and
the deeds and actions of his son, Daniel Strader. Roy wrote the following:
Dan Strader was convicted of stealing our life savings of $ 100,000.00 by using
lies and deceit and since your question about the effect on our lives is
probably the must important factor to you and the Parole Commission, let me
simply repeat the words of Jerry Hill, state attorney of Polk County: "The
crimes of Dan Strader have done more damage to more elderly people than any
homicide that I have prosecuted "
Dan's thefts have forced us to sell our house and most of our personal
possessions and move into a trailer. He has shown absolutely no remorse and
Judge Robert Doyel who presided over this case stated: "The first step
toward rehabilitation is admission of wrong doing, and therefore I feel that
Dan Strader will never be rehabilitated."
What Mr. Strader did was calculated and carefully planned with a willful
disregard for the lives of others to such an unbelievable degree of extremity
that my wife and I still cannot understand why anyone would try to destroy us
in this fashion, especially since we had given faithful service to the
Carpenter's Church in Lakeland pastored by Karl Strader, Dan's Father.
The leadership of the Assembly of God denomination both in
The State prosecutors proved their case and convinced the jurors that Dan
Strader devised an elaborate scheme to attract cash in the real-estate and
mortgage investments. He was selling the securities without a license and that
the securities were unregistered. This was done in an organized method
amounting to Racketeer-Influence and Corrupt Organizations, or RICO Act.
As a result Daniel Strader, 37, was sentenced to 45 years in prison in August
1995. He was convicted of 238 felony counts for bilking 57 mostly elderly
investors, some members of the church, out of $2.3 million by selling
investments in properties that didn't exist or already had liens against them.
Roy and Patricia Aldrich of
But the evil and wicked deeds of Dan Strader and his 238 counts of theft, fraud
and racketeering will continue to haunt Carpenter's
On
The Lakeland Ledger reported that April was a bittersweet month for Strader. On
Easter Sunday, he marked his 35th anniversary as pastor of Carpenter's
In one generation, he has seen his Pentecostal tradition grow in numbers and in
acceptance. And by most accounts, he has been an innovator, freely associating
with faith groups outside Pentecostalism and borrowing ideas from them. He
built an empire at Carpenter's Home in
Strader bears an even deeper wound. Those who know him say the scandal
surrounding his son's arrest and 1995 conviction on fraud charges have affected
him more deeply than any other setback. Yet at 72, Strader soldiers on,
preaching and laying hands on people who come forward in hopes of a healing
touch. He says he will remain as pastor of Carpenter's Home as long as his
health is good. He tells his congregation, "I'm past the age scripture
tells me is given to us of
But the Ledger also reported recently that the Carpenter's
Dan was not an entrepreneur, he was a first class con artist who used religious
words, quoted the Bible, prayed with and preyed on his victims. He modeled himself
after his protégé and hero-his Dad, and did the things that the Senior Pastor
and the Strader family did in Carpenter's
The facts would later show the Straders for what they are and how they:
• Ignored the plight of the elderly victims
and raise tens of thousands of dollars for Dan.
• Ignored moral discrepancies in Dan's
multiple admission of lying and guilt, and declare victory over their enemies,
which never came.
• Identified the forces of darkness as
anyone who would question their views and positions on matters, especially in
regards to Dan's crimes.
• Ridiculed and lampooned Dan's victims, by
deriding them for testifying against Dan.
• Arrogantly refused to admit doing any
significant wrong and say it was the fault of others a conspiracy out to get
them, because of who they are, high profile Christians.
• Repeatedly used the pulpit of
Carpenter's Home church to issue misleading statements about Dan and others
such as "we are being crucified by the press" and using lies and
deceptions.
• Issued unbelievable hate and slander from
a public pulpit, on three investors or victims, who were embezzled by a con
artist.
• Used people and things in Carpenter's
• Denied members and staff members access
to elected deacons, and used others on staff as Roy Aldrich had
written to work them over with "a rubber hose" for not
submitting to their demands and wishes.
• Ensured that their salaries were
confidential and their positions were maintained at all costs, while others
less fortunate and more talented had to leave, even though they had given their
best and expected a degree of respect for their loyalty and hard work. It
wasn't what you did but who you know, and the same is true in churches today.
So it safe to assume that Dan Strader is not getting out of prison soon because
the God who put him there is not stupid and neither are others?
http://www.theledger.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20030620/NEWS/306200377/1004
Senior Pastor of Without
Dr. Randy White is the powerhouse founder, and Senior Pastor of Without Walls International Church (WWIC), a multiracial, multicultural congregation that has grown from five members to 10,000 members since 1991. Under Dr. White's leadership, Without Walls International Church has twice been named one of the fastest-growing churches in the nation by Church Growth Today.
Known for his dynamic preaching and practical teaching styles, Dr. White brings God's Word to life through sometimes intense, often humorous, and always relevant sermons, and dramatic, entertaining illustrated sermons. He communicates the message of Christ with sincerity while bringing it down to concrete realities for the year 2001 and beyond.
Tenacity and brokenness underscore his success as a respected, and successful evangelist, author and pastor. As an ordained minister he is also known for his pursuit of evangelism and restoration, Randy White comes from a rich heritage of preachers. At age 13, he decided he too would devote his life to ministry by preaching in prisons, on the streets, and in nursing homes.
Still, Randy held on to
his dream of becoming a minister. He entered
His early ministry
positions included work with T.L. Lowery - one of the leading pastors in the
In 1990, Randy and his
wife Paula, made a leap of faith. They began to reach out to the people that
nobody else wanted: the "unchurched", the broken, the derelicts, the
Mafia, and the children in the inner cities. Together, in 1991, they eventually
opened the doors of
Ten years later, this thriving church has confounded and amazed those who warned the Whites that the "poor" could not support a ministry. Today, Without Wall's membership and the weekly attendance are tangible evidence of its success. Its diverse congregation is a vegetable soup mixture of Africans, African Americans, Whites, Pacific South Islanders, Asians, Hispanics, and Europeans from throughout the world. They are rich, poor, homeless, men, women, children, corporate professionals, CEOs, professional athletes, all searching for one common thing: "Restoration".
Traveling extensively both nationally and internationally, Dr. White's message revolves around the theme of calling people to repentance before God.
He also trains individuals and congregations on how to reach the unchurched, the homeless, and the inner city. Dr. White gives practical and insightful instruction on how to take cities for God.
His vision for the city
of
His ministry has been
recognized by some of the most influential people of our times, including
former U.S. president Bill Clinton, former U.S. president George Bush, Sr.,
former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, former Prime Minister of
Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu, General Colin Powell, former Vice President Dan
Quyale and Boxing's heavy weigh champion, Evander Holyfield for its uncommon
approach to solving challenges that affect our nation and the world. Dr. White
has taught and trained in
While the Tampa Tribune in an article by Michelle Bearden titled ‘Expensive Walls’ reported about Randy Whites $ 2.1 million home:
The Whites, who came to Tampa 13 years ago, say they sometimes worried they wouldn't have rent money after they started their church in 1991.
Last year, they claimed a combined income of $600,000. Of that, $179,000 is Randy White's annual salary from Without Walls, a church that claims 15,000 members and brings in $10 million yearly in revenues. Co-pastor Paula White, who is gaining international acclaim as a televangelist and speaker, is paid $120,000. They also receive an $80,000 housing allowance from the church.
`Grossly Underpaid'
The Whites also are accountable to an 18-member church board, which sets their salaries, pension plan and housing allowance. According to an outside financial accounting firm, they are not compensated enough for their work.
``For the size of their
church and its revenues, they're grossly underpaid,'' says H. Michael Chitwood,
who heads Chitwood & Chitwood financial services company. The
Neither the Ledger nor the Tribune reported on the fact that Randy White and Karl Strader were CEO's of their religious incorporated non profit organization and what this entails.
For the record, none of the major thieving evangelists or CEO’s such Randy White, Kenneth Copeland, Oral Roberts, Rodney Howard Browne, Franklin Graham, Karl Strader Or Stephen Strader have earned doctorate degrees never mind a degree in business administration.
Secular presidents of universities and non profit charitable organizations have earned doctorate degrees and are qualified to earn their salary unlike many Pentecostal religious leaders who have honorary degrees bestowed on them by Oral Roberts university.
But greedy and thieving TV evangelists always justify what they are doing because they are uncomfortable with their thievery. Richard Dortch, VP of the PTL club, now an ex felon stated that when he was earning very little he didn't care if people knew but when he was stealing $400,000 he didn't want anybody to know? There are always tell a tale signs about their thievery and live styles that give them away.
Unlike Jesus Christ who owned nothing, Televangelists Jan and Paul Crouch who lost their tax exemption for their Trinity Broadcasting Network are definitely not lacking in any material possession. Their home is described as "a palatial estate with ocean and city views and was purchased for around five million dollars. It has six bedrooms, nine bathrooms, a billiard room, a climate-controlled wine cellar, a sweeping staircase and a crystal chandelier. The three-story, nearly 9,500-square-foot house, has an elevator, also has a six-car garage, a tennis court and a pool with a fountain.
Trinity Broadcasting,
established in 1973, has more than 768 TV stations on the air worldwide. The
Crouches oversee a $100-million-plus-a-year enterprise. One of the Crouch
estates is TBN's ranch in
Mind you President Clinton did and President Bush does release his total salary and his personal income tax to the public while Billy and Franklin Graham do not. But adulterous and lying Bill Clinton seems to have more integrity and accountability than Southern Baptist Evangelists do in this area?
THERE IS NO HONEST REASON FOR FRANKLIN GRAHAM AND HIS RELIGIOUS FRIENDS TO HIDE THEIR TOTAL SALARIES UNLESS THEY ARE RAPISTS AND THIEVES WHO USE OTHERS FOR THEIR OWN SELFISH AND SECRET AGENDAS?
References
http://www.strang.com/ubb/Forum2/HTML/002728.html
http://www.wcie.net/danielstrader/
http://www.davidicke.net/religiousfrauds/pentecostal/godfraud.html
http://www.cephasministry.com/pentecostals_carpenters_church.html
http://www.christiannews.0catch.com/strader.htm
http://www.christiannews.0catch.com/dan.htm
http://www.christiannews.0catch.com/hinn.htm
http://www.deceptioninthechurch.com/lewd.html
http://www.sptimes.com/2002/08/12/Floridian/Strength_in_numbers.shtml
http://www.christiannews.0catch.com/hinn.htm
http://www.deceptioninthechurch.com/lewd.html
http://www.sptimes.com/2002/08/12/Floridian/Strength_in_numbers.shtml
Dr.
Randy White, the powerhouse founder and Senior Pastor of Without Walls
International Church (WWIC),
Located in suburban
"Everyone
involved really tried to make it work," she said. "We don't fault
anyone ... They had a price and they weren't going to lower it. We respect that
... but we are very disappointed. We felt it was a God thing."
South
African Pentecostal Evangelist Rodney Howard-Browne who became a naturalized
American and taught that "sheep needed to be fleeced or they would have
too much hair and could not see where they are going. It was the pastor’s job
to fleece the sheep “will hold a ten year revival reunion on
Dr.
Rodney Howard- Browne had been credited with bringing the laughter revival to
The
leadership of the Assembly of God denomination both in Lakeland and Missouri
also would not accept the testimony of one of its members Roy Aldrich that he
was robbed and raped by money changers and wolves in sheep's clothing in
Carpenter's Home Church during the so called "revival". But the State
of
The
Daniel,
37, was sentenced to 45 years in prison in August 1995. He was convicted of 238
felony counts for bilking 57 mostly elderly investors, some members of the
church, out of $2.3 million by selling investments in properties that didn't
exist or already had liens against them. Others who were involved along with
Dan Strader were not pursed by the State of
Dr
Rodney Howard Browne used his influence and powers to raise money at
Carpenter's
What Dan
Strader did with the help of his father
was egregiously wrong, especially since many of his victims were elderly
and relied on an implied ethical deportment presumed of the son of a prominent
minister. Strader devised a Ponzi scheme that used money from new investors to
pay old investors. The enterprise eventually collapsed under its own weight,
especially when Roy Aldrich brought it to the attention of the media and the
State Attorney.
Strader
was an unimaginative plodder. His partner in crime, on the other hand, an
Once the
scheme collapsed, Pernice had the good sense to strike a deal with prosecutors
that netted him only weekend jail time, albeit 15 years worth. Strader took his
chances at trial, was well represented, and paid the price for his arrogance as
well as his misdeeds.
The name
Strader carries weight in charismatic circles. Strader, 72, has been pastor of
Carpenters Home for 35 years and has ministered at various churches nationwide.
A Pentecostal church under the Assemblies of God denomination, Carpenters Home
has owned radio stations, hosted concerts and conferences featuring big names
in Christianity, such as evangelist Rodney Howard-Browne, gospel singer CeCe
Winans and Christian music artists Jars of Clay and Michael W. Smith reported
the St. Petersburg Times.
But the
past 15 years have also carried controversy. Some Assemblies of God leaders,
including televangelist Jimmy Swaggart, have publicly questioned Strader's
theological teachings, according to the Lakeland Ledger.
"We've
been to hell and back," Strader said during a recent church service. About
800 of Strader's members left to form their own church in 1989, after a dispute
over his leadership.
Then in
1994, Strader's son, Daniel, was arrested on fraud charges. He was convicted
the next year and is serving a 45-year sentence in federal prison. A small
number of fraud victims were members of the church, causing further tension.
Strader said he believed his son was innocent and was treated unfairly by the
system. But his son's appeals have been denied. Strader asked members of
Without Walls to pray for his son's release, saying seven years behind bars was
enough for a "white collar crime."
At one
time membership rolls swelled to about 5,000. Strader and a jubilant
congregation had the 10,000-seat auditorium built, believing that in time it
would be filled to capacity. Instead, attendance dwindled. (Published the
The
problem with lying and thieving preachers in
Then a
man of God came to Eli and said to him, "Thus says the LORD: 'Did I not
clearly reveal Myself to the house of your father when they were in
Carpenter's
Home Finances
In our
local news recently is a report that the Carpenter's
I wish
The Ledger would investigate and publish the finances of this deal. The
Carpenter's
I have
relatives who were members of that church since the 1940s, and they helped pay
for it.
I have
visited often in the past and heard many of Rev. Strader's sermons. I was
puzzled why he often said in his sermons that anyone who disagreed with him
should not make a fuss, just walk out the back door and leave.
His
congregation has now dwindled down and he is left with a multimilliondollar
facility.
My
relatives left after Rev. Strader became a more-autocratic minister, there were
questions about his family being given jobs at the church and his son was
convicted of defrauding church members (mostly elderly ones) out of their life
savings.
It seems
to me part of the problem is that the Assembly of God denomination allows
ministers to preside over board meetings instead of a church member, as in
other more democratically operated Protestant churches.
Nonetheless,
it was good Assembly of God people who paid for that Carpenter's
The
question before the public is, will it?
TRAVIS
EPSHIRE
(Published
The Ledger
Daniel
Strader's brother, Stephen Strader and his sisters, Karla and Dawn also wrote a
letter which was also reprinted in the
Ledger. The letter solicited funds for Strader's legal defense. Investigators
were charging him with 259 felony counts and for scheming to defraud
"Dan
is facing bankruptcy and life imprisonment because of mistakes he made in his
business. Because of these mistakes and the economy, some of Dan's business clients have suffered losses.
While many of these good people have been willing to give Dan the opportunity
to recovery financially, others have been unwilling or unable to give Dan more
time to make things right.
The system
which holds Dan's fate in its hands seems almost sinister in its inclination,
conscious or not to damage Dad and the church. The press and some of Dan's
investors have not hesitated to drag out Dad and the Church into the
mire."
All we
want for Danny is that he be treated fairly, and that he be given the
opportunity to set things right. He has been faithful to the Church and to his
small family [ whose electricity was cut off 14 times in one year because of
non payment of bills by Dan ]. He loves God and feels the call of God on his
life. He is seeking the Lord now more than ever in his 6 by 10 cell with only
his Bible. Being human, Danny has made
mistakes, but he is sincere in his desire to make things right. He wants all of
his investors and business associates to be made whole."
Our
reasons for contacting you is to let you know about this trouble, because we
know that you will want to show your love and support to our parents. We also
want you to know how critical this situation is. Dan has no money, and cannot
afford to pay a qualified lawyer to defend himself. Our parents cannot afford
to handle the expenses of Danny's
defense by themselves."
Mary
wrote a letter to the Editor titled "Strader gutless, selfish" which
was printed in February, 1995, in the Ledger, concerning Daniel's decision to
withdraw his guilty plea. For Strader was accused of soliciting investments in
income producing properties and in his company and instead the money was
converted to cash and deposited for his personal use and pleaded guilty. She
stated: A truly revolting and shameful display. The Reverend Strader should be
double ashamed - not only did he raise a criminal, he raised a gutless selfish
whiner.
Later,
we were to learn that Dan's parents, the Straders, lived in a debt free $400,000 home on a lake next to a golf course
drove two luxury towncars and made a salary in the six figure bracket not
including special perks. While other parents, who sold their homes and
possessions to help one of their daughters or sons in their time of trouble,
the Straders in their usual style asked others to contribute and made only small token contributions themselves. For
their other children protested that dad was not to spend their inheritance in
defending Dan.
If Dan
was innocent as Pastor Karl Strader said many times, why didn't Karl Strader,
as a concerned parent sell any of his assets, especially the luxury towncars to
help him? This was something that haunted me and spoke loudly to me that
something was really wrong in the pastor's behavior and actions as a Christian.
Dan
Strader, who earned in prison in
Why
Hasn't God Answered My Prayer?
God has really missed some great
opportunities to rescue me from my present circumstances. Have you ever felt
that way? I certainly have. Many times. Shortly after being sent to prison, I
tried to disentangle my negative circumstances. I was hoping to make some sense
out of the erroneous outcome.
Less
than 5% of those incarcerated have actually taken their cases to trial. I am
one of them. However, I learned quickly that the criminal justice system isn't
just about guilt or innocence: for it rarely sticks with the rule of law or
fairness. It seemingly deteriorates into a contest between officers of the
court who are primarily concerned with winning at any cost. Consequently, if
you happen to be the accused facing an unscrupulous adversary, your chances of
acquittal are minimal.
With so much injustice being done concerning
my case, I reasoned, surely God will rescue me . . . immediately! Nothing
happened. Moreover, my inability to change the continual negative circumstances
has often left me feeling angry and frustrated. Why hasn't God answered my
prayers? Is it a lack of faith?
Fortunately,
Jesus addresses this human disposition in two parables: The Importunate Friend
(Luke 11:5-13) and The Unjust Judge (Luke 18:1-8). Both of these stories
contain invaluable lessons to getting our prayers answered. I can particularly
identify with the widow as she pleads her case before the unjust judge:
"Avenge me of mine adversary" she cries. Undoubtedly, circumstances
necessitated her repeated visits to attain relief. Her request, however, was
being denied. The prayers were going unanswered. The judge's indifference to
her case is evident by his thoughts. "Though I fear not God, nor regard
man; yet because this widow troubleth me, I will avenge her, lest by her
continual coming she weary me." Jesus then says, "Hear what the
unjust judge saith. And shall not God avenge his own elect, which cry day and
night unto him, though he bear long with them? I tell you that he will avenge
them speedily."
Not
Innocent!
Dan
Strader even though he is the son of a preacher and earned a master degree in
Theology doesn't know what he is talking about in Luke 18. Dan is in prison
because his victims prayed for avengement just like Jesus told them too.
Dan
cannot accept the fact of his guilt in real crimes of praying with and preying on
the members of his father's church with the help of his father. Deceived Dan
doesn't understand that God resists the proud and gives grace to the humble for
Roy Aldrich, a retired school teacher, died prematurely at the age 65, as a
direct result of the stress and betrayal by his friend and pastor, Karl
Strader, and the deeds and actions of his son, Daniel Strader.
Dan
Strader was convicted of stealing our life savings of $ 100,000.00 by using
lies and deceit and since your question about the effect on our lives is
probably the must important factor to you and the Parole Commission, let me
simply repeat the words of Jerry Hill, state attorney of Polk County: "The
crimes of Dan Strader have done more damage to more elderly people than any
homicide that I have prosecuted "
Dan's
thefts have forced us to sell our house and most of our personal possessions
and move into a trailer. He has shown absolutely no remorse and Judge Robert
Doyel who presided over this case stated: "The first step toward
rehabilitation is admission of wrong doing, and therefore I feel that Dan
Strader will never be rehabilitated."
What Mr.
Strader did was calculated and carefully planned with a willful disregard for
the lives of others to such an unbelievable degree of extremity that my wife
and I still cannot understand why anyone would try to destroy us in this
fashion, especially since we had given faithful service to the Carpenter's
Church in Lakeland pastored by Karl Strader, Dan's Father.
The
leadership of the Assembly of God denomination both in
The
State prosecutors proved their case and convinced the jurors that Dan Strader
devised an elaborate scheme to attract cash in the real-estate and mortgage
investments. He was selling the securities without a license and that the
securities were unregistered. This was done in an organized method amounting to
Racketeer-Influence and Corrupt Organizations, or RICO Act.
As a
result Daniel Strader, 37, was sentenced to 45 years in prison in August 1995.
He was convicted of 238 felony counts for bilking 57 mostly elderly investors,
some members of the church, out of $2.3 million by selling investments in
properties that didn't exist or already had liens against them.
Roy and
Patricia Aldrich of
But the
evil and wicked deeds of Dan Strader and his 238 counts of theft, fraud and
racketeering will continue to haunt Carpenter's
On
The
Lakeland Ledger reported that April was a bittersweet month for Strader. On
Easter Sunday, he marked his 35th anniversary as pastor of Carpenter's
In one
generation, he has seen his Pentecostal tradition grow in numbers and in
acceptance. And by most accounts, he has been an innovator, freely associating
with faith groups outside Pentecostalism and borrowing ideas from them. He
built an empire at Carpenter's Home in North Lakeland that has at times
included a 10,000-seat sanctuary, a national TV audience, a private school and
a retirement home. But his innovations were not appreciated by everyone, and 11
years ago, strife decimated Carpenter's Home. Today, the cavernous sanctuary is
perhaps a quarter full on Sundays, and the TV broadcasts have been cut way
back.
Strader
bears an even deeper wound. Those who know him say the scandal surrounding his
son's arrest and 1995 conviction on fraud charges have affected him more deeply
than any other setback. Yet at 72, Strader soldiers on, preaching and laying
hands on people who come forward in hopes of a healing touch. He says he will
remain as pastor of Carpenter's Home as long as his health is good. He tells
his congregation, "I'm past the age scripture tells me is given to us of
three score and 10. But God has given me a wonderful life of health and strength.
I'm shooting for 100."
But the
Ledger also reported recently that the Carpenter's
Dan was not
an entrepreneur, he was a first class con artist who used religious words,
quoted the Bible, prayed with and preyed on his victims. He modeled himself
after his protégé and hero-his Dad, and did the things that the Senior Pastor
and the Strader family did in Carpenter's
The
facts would later show the Straders for what they are and how they:
· Ignored the plight of the elderly
victims and raise tens of thousands of dollars for Dan.
· Ignored moral discrepancies in Dan's
multiple admission of lying and guilt, and declare victory over their enemies,
which never came.
· Identified the forces of darkness as
anyone who would question their views and positions on matters, especially in
regards to Dan's crimes.
· Ridiculed and lampooned Dan's victims,
by deriding them for testifying against Dan.
· Arrogantly refused to admit doing any
significant wrong and say it was the fault of others a conspiracy out to get
them, because of who they are, high profile Christians.
· Repeatedly used the pulpit of Carpenter's Home church to
issue misleading statements about Dan and others such as "we are being
crucified by the press" and using lies and deceptions.
· Issued unbelievable hate and slander
from a public pulpit, on three investors or victims, who were embezzled by a
con artist.
· Used people and things in Carpenter's
· Denied members and staff members access
to elected deacons, and used others on staff
as Roy Aldrich had written to
work them over with "a rubber hose" for not submitting to their
demands and wishes.
· Ensured that their salaries were
confidential and their positions were maintained at all costs, while others
less fortunate and more talented had to leave, even though they had given their
best and expected a degree of respect for their loyalty and hard work. It
wasn't what you did but who you know, and the same is true in churches today.
So it
safe to assume that Dan Strader is not getting out of prison soon because the
God who put him there is not stupid and neither are others? And the bible
states in 1 Timothy:
1:7 For
a bishop must be blameless, as a steward of God, not self-willed, not
quick-tempered, not given to wine, not violent, not greedy for money, 1:8 but hospitable, a lover of what is good,
sober-minded, just, holy, self-controlled, 1:9 holding fast the faithful word
as he has been taught, that he may be able, by sound doctrine, both to exhort
and convict those who contradict.
References
http://www.davidicke.net/religiousfrauds/pentecostal/godfraud.html
http://cnt10.tripod.com/strader.htm
http://cnt10.tripod.com/dan.htm
http://cnt10.tripod.com/aog.htm
http://www.sptimes.com/2002/08/12/Floridian/Strength_in_numbers.shtml
http://www.cephas-library.com/pentecostal_straders_carpenters_home.html
http://www.cephas-library.com/evangelists_cerullo_smelling_like_a_rose.html
http://www.strang.com/ubb/Forum2/HTML/002728.html
http://www.danielstrader.info/index.html#footer
http://cnt10.tripod.com/ministry.htm
http://betrayaltoday.tripod.com/betrayal.htm
http://cnt10.tripod.com/hinn.htm
http://www.cephas-library.com/evangelists/evangelist_morris_cerullo_fraud.html
http://cnt10.tripod.com/bakker.htm
http://cnt10.tripod.com/rodney.htm
http://www.deceptioninthechurch.com/lewd.html
http://www.tampatrib.com/MGAM9GOXVKD.html