Prosecutor: Lyons, Edwards are February 24, 1999
`Bonnie and Clyde' of Baptist groupLARGO, Fla. — The Rev. Henry Lyons and his alleged mistress cheated corporations out of millions of dollars that financed their lavish lifestyle of fancy cars and jewelry and all the rest, a prosecutor told jurors.
"They actually became the Bonnie and Clyde of the National Baptist Convention. Instead of using a gun to go and rob their victims, they used a pen and they used their word,'' Assistant State Attorney Jim Hellickson said Tuesday during closing arguments in Lyons' racketeering trial.
Lyons and co-defendant Bernice Edwards, a convicted embezzler, are accused of swindling more than $4 million from companies seeking to sell cemetery products, life insurance policies and credit cards to members of the black church organization. Prosecutors contend the 8.5 million members the defendants claimed was a hoax, and that the real number was closer to 1 million.
Abusing the trust placed in him by church members, Lyons and his alleged paramour went on a crime spree inspired by pure avarice, Hellickson told jurors.
"If I had to think of a name for this case ... I think I would call it, `Their creed was greed,''' he said. "They had their fancy cars. They had their fancy vacations to Lake Tahoe, to Hawaii a couple times. They had their jewelry. They had the real estate.''
Hellickson said they duped companies by selling a membership mailing list that never existed, and then used the money to buy a $700,000 waterfront home, a time share condominium, a huge diamond ring and luxury cars.
Defense lawyers, who say Lyons' failed business deals are not criminal matters, were expected to begin their arguments today. Jurors could get the case as soon as Thursday.
Lyons also is charged with grand theft, accused of stealing almost $250,000 the Anti-Defamation League of B'nai B'rith donated to rebuild burned black churches in the South. His lawyers said he planned to distribute the money and repaid it when the ADL asked.
Lyons, who did not testify during his five-week trial, still faces a federal trial in April on 54 counts including tax evasion, extortion and money laundering.
Source: Newswire
February 24, 1999
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