by Garry Tanner and Sharon E. Crawford
Telegraph Staff Writers
July 1, 2004
click the newspaper clippings above to view a larger image
Showing posts with label Macon Telegraph. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Macon Telegraph. Show all posts
July 30, 2012
Judge leaves compound in Nuwaubian's control - for now
Newspaper clipping about Nuwaubians Nuwaupians and Dr. Malachi Z. York legal
case
by Garry Tanner and Sharon E. Crawford
Telegraph Staff Writers
July 1, 2004
by Garry Tanner and Sharon E. Crawford
Telegraph Staff Writers
July 1, 2004
January 23, 2011
Attorney Adrian Patrick says Judge Ashely Royal is Biased!
I thought this was a pretty good report on how Judge C. Ashley Royal was soooo biased. If you ever had a chance to read any of the pre-trial minutes, you will surely see exactly how biased and one sided Judge C. Ashley Royal was when it came to Dr. Malachi Z. York's child molestation case. But what's more interest about this article is, it clearly shows how Adrian Patrick really had the balls and the nerve to go up against this crooked judge and his crew. Attorney Adrian Patrick is straight up a warrior. As the article begins:"BRUNSWICK - Fireworks erupted Friday in the federal child molestation trial of cult leader Malachi York when his defense attorney angrily accused the judge of bias for the prosecution and asked that he remove himself from the case. ..."
according to the article Attorney Adrian Patrick accused the judge of making "IMPROPER SUGGESTIONS" to assistant U.S. Attorney Richard Moultrie. Read the pre-trials minutes and you will see more "IMPROPER SUGGESTIONS" made by Judge C. Ashely Royal. But I really have to give two thumbs up to Adrian Patrick. Not only did he had the balls to fight these tamahus, they under estimated his intelligence. Attorney Adrian Patrick was only given six days to prepare for trials because he was denied of continuance. and was forced unwanted assistance of Attorney Manny aurora from the Garland Firm by Judge C. Ashely Royal.
That's 6 days. Attorney Adrian Patrick was only give 6 days to prepare for a federal RICO trial but was heavily promoted as a CHILD MOLESTATION case.
August 21, 2009
York's lawyers argue for dismissal
Macon Telegraph/December 17, 2003
By Liz Fabian
The leader of the United Nuwaubian Nation of Moors, Malachi York, was back in U.S. District Court in Macon Tuesday for a hearing on a number of pre-trial motions filed by his attorneys.
York is accused of taking children across state lines for the purpose of having sex with them and attempting to evade federal financial reporting requirements.
The trial is set to begin Jan. 5 in Brunswick.
Judge Ashley Royal granted a change of venue in October due to pre-trial publicity.
In January, York pleaded guilty to the federal charges, but Royal determined that York withdrew his guilty plea in October.
Attorney Adrian Patrick, the newest member of York's defense team, said they filed a motion to dismiss the case on two grounds - the publicity surrounding York's earlier guilty plea would violate his right to a fair trial and the grand jury was picked from the Middle District of Georgia, which Patrick said was already determined to be a tainted jury pool due to the judge's earlier change of venue ruling.
Royal will issue a ruling on the motions at a later date.
The judge did chide York's followers in court for their participation in the Brunswick Christmas parade earlier this month, where supporters passed out fliers supporting York.
Royal said York will likely remain in custody at the Jones County jail until shortly before the trial begins.
Patrick said the defense is ready to proceed with the January trial.
"You'll get to see a very different side of the case," Patrick said. "Basically you've seen Dr. York get beaten up, but you haven't seen evidence supporting him."
About two dozen people gathered outside the courthouse in support of York and about the same number of supporters sat in the courtroom.
As York left the courtroom with his hands cuffed behind the back of his orange jumpsuit, he smiled at several women in the audience, including a couple of them who blew him a kiss as he passed by.
The Nuwaubians are a cult-like group based in Putnam County that at various times has claimed to be Christian, Muslim, Freemasons and American Indians.
By Liz Fabian
The leader of the United Nuwaubian Nation of Moors, Malachi York, was back in U.S. District Court in Macon Tuesday for a hearing on a number of pre-trial motions filed by his attorneys.
York is accused of taking children across state lines for the purpose of having sex with them and attempting to evade federal financial reporting requirements.
The trial is set to begin Jan. 5 in Brunswick.
Judge Ashley Royal granted a change of venue in October due to pre-trial publicity.
In January, York pleaded guilty to the federal charges, but Royal determined that York withdrew his guilty plea in October.
Attorney Adrian Patrick, the newest member of York's defense team, said they filed a motion to dismiss the case on two grounds - the publicity surrounding York's earlier guilty plea would violate his right to a fair trial and the grand jury was picked from the Middle District of Georgia, which Patrick said was already determined to be a tainted jury pool due to the judge's earlier change of venue ruling.
Royal will issue a ruling on the motions at a later date.
The judge did chide York's followers in court for their participation in the Brunswick Christmas parade earlier this month, where supporters passed out fliers supporting York.
Royal said York will likely remain in custody at the Jones County jail until shortly before the trial begins.
Patrick said the defense is ready to proceed with the January trial.
"You'll get to see a very different side of the case," Patrick said. "Basically you've seen Dr. York get beaten up, but you haven't seen evidence supporting him."
About two dozen people gathered outside the courthouse in support of York and about the same number of supporters sat in the courtroom.
As York left the courtroom with his hands cuffed behind the back of his orange jumpsuit, he smiled at several women in the audience, including a couple of them who blew him a kiss as he passed by.
The Nuwaubians are a cult-like group based in Putnam County that at various times has claimed to be Christian, Muslim, Freemasons and American Indians.
Ga. can pick up prosecution of York's 'main wife'
Macon Telegraph/October 29, 2003
By Rob Peecher
Eatonton -- The Georgia Court of Appeals has ruled that the state can continue its prosecution of accused child molester Kathy Johnson.
Johnson, a co-defendant with United Nuwaubian Nation of Moors leader Malachi York and the woman referred to by York's followers as his "main wife," is accused of molesting children with York. She faces 10 counts of child molestation and two counts of aggravated child molestation.
The appellate court's ruling would allow York and Johnson to be tried together, but prosecutors say that's not likely.
Johnson's attorney, Brian Steele, filed a demand for a speedy trial, and in January he argued that the state did not meet the legal requirements under a speedy-trial demand and sought to have the case dismissed.
Ocmulgee Superior Court Judge William Prior denied the defense's request, finding that two terms of court had expired without Johnson going to trial from the time that her attorney filed the speedy trial demand, but also that there was no jury impaneled to decide the case during the first court term.
Last week, the state appellate court upheld Prior's decision, finding that the jury Steele argued counted in the first term had been discharged, and therefore the clock didn't start running until after the next term of court began.
Steele can ask the appellate court to reconsider the case and can also appeal the decision to the Georgia Supreme Court.
District Attorney Fred Bright said Tuesday, after learning of the court of appeals' decision, that if Steele chooses not to appeal, he will have less than three months to get Johnson to trial.
Johnson was to have been tried with York, but in January he pleaded guilty to 77 state charges of molestation. York, who with Johnson also faced related federal charges, at the time also pleaded guilty to the federal charges. Last week, a federal judge ruled that York had withdrawn his guilty plea to the federal charges, and York is now scheduled to go to trial on the federal charges in January.
York has not withdrawn his guilty plea to the state charges, though he has not been sentenced and could withdraw his plea before he is sentenced. But Bright said that as it stands now, he anticipates trying Johnson alone if she does not appeal or if the appellate courts continue to rule against her.
Johnson pleaded guilty in April to a reduced federal charge of having knowledge of a crime but not participating in the crime.
York and his followers moved from New York to Putnam County in 1993 to a 476-acre farm. There they erected numerous Egyptian-style structures, among them two pyramids and a sphinx, and York claimed to be an alien from the planet "Rizq."
York and Johnson were arrested in May 2002 after a number of children and adults who grew up in his sect came forward with allegations that York, Johnson and others had molested them.
By Rob Peecher
Eatonton -- The Georgia Court of Appeals has ruled that the state can continue its prosecution of accused child molester Kathy Johnson.
Johnson, a co-defendant with United Nuwaubian Nation of Moors leader Malachi York and the woman referred to by York's followers as his "main wife," is accused of molesting children with York. She faces 10 counts of child molestation and two counts of aggravated child molestation.
The appellate court's ruling would allow York and Johnson to be tried together, but prosecutors say that's not likely.
Johnson's attorney, Brian Steele, filed a demand for a speedy trial, and in January he argued that the state did not meet the legal requirements under a speedy-trial demand and sought to have the case dismissed.
Ocmulgee Superior Court Judge William Prior denied the defense's request, finding that two terms of court had expired without Johnson going to trial from the time that her attorney filed the speedy trial demand, but also that there was no jury impaneled to decide the case during the first court term.
Last week, the state appellate court upheld Prior's decision, finding that the jury Steele argued counted in the first term had been discharged, and therefore the clock didn't start running until after the next term of court began.
Steele can ask the appellate court to reconsider the case and can also appeal the decision to the Georgia Supreme Court.
District Attorney Fred Bright said Tuesday, after learning of the court of appeals' decision, that if Steele chooses not to appeal, he will have less than three months to get Johnson to trial.
Johnson was to have been tried with York, but in January he pleaded guilty to 77 state charges of molestation. York, who with Johnson also faced related federal charges, at the time also pleaded guilty to the federal charges. Last week, a federal judge ruled that York had withdrawn his guilty plea to the federal charges, and York is now scheduled to go to trial on the federal charges in January.
York has not withdrawn his guilty plea to the state charges, though he has not been sentenced and could withdraw his plea before he is sentenced. But Bright said that as it stands now, he anticipates trying Johnson alone if she does not appeal or if the appellate courts continue to rule against her.
Johnson pleaded guilty in April to a reduced federal charge of having knowledge of a crime but not participating in the crime.
York and his followers moved from New York to Putnam County in 1993 to a 476-acre farm. There they erected numerous Egyptian-style structures, among them two pyramids and a sphinx, and York claimed to be an alien from the planet "Rizq."
York and Johnson were arrested in May 2002 after a number of children and adults who grew up in his sect came forward with allegations that York, Johnson and others had molested them.
Lawyer withdraws guilty plea for York
Nuwaubian leader likely to face new charges, including racketeering
Macon Telegraph/October 25, 2003
By Rob Peecher
A federal court judge determined Friday that Nuwaubian leader Malachi York withdrew his previous guilty plea to financial and child sex charges.
York did not directly answer questions from the court about his plea, but U.S. District Court Judge Ashley Royal determined through York's attorney that he wished to change his plea to "not guilty."
York faces federal charges of transporting children across state lines for sex and evading financial reporting requirements.
Also Friday, York's defense attorneys said they have been put on notice by the government that York will likely face a new round of indictments that include racketeering charges.
York's trial is scheduled for early January. U.S. marshals led York, whose head was newly shaved, into the Macon courtroom in an orange Jones County Jail jumpsuit. His ankles and wrists were bound. He sat at the defense table, flanked by his attorneys, Frank Rubino, Manny Arora and Ed Garland.
When Royal entered the courtroom, York refused to stand up. Two U.S. marshals pulled him to his feet and held him up until Royal told those in the courtroom to be seated.
Royal - who got the case after Judge Hugh Lawson recused himself - began the hearing by saying he was going to pick up where Lawson left off, signaling he would not accept the negotiated plea agreement between York and the government. Lawson, before recusing himself, had said he would not accept a 15-year sentence for York.
Royal also ruled Friday that, based on a recent psychiatric evaulation, York is competent to stand trial. Royal then asked if York would withdraw his guilty plea.
Rubino, one of his attorneys, said he had met with York for four hours the previous day.
"I think he will allow us to withdraw his plea of guilty and reinstate a plea of not guilty," Rubino said.
Typically, a defendant enters his plea on the record, but when Royal asked York to say whether he wanted to withdraw his guilty plea, York declined to give an affirmative response.
"As a private citizen and a secured party, I accept this for value," York said.
Royal then asked York a series of questions intended to illicit a direct answer, and York said only, "I accept this for value."
"With all due respect, if I respond to that question I'll be putting myself back in the public," York finally said. "I prefer not to participate in this forum. That's why I have an international attorney sitting here, and he can speak for me."
The language York used is similar to language in "common law" filings his followers have made in courts in Atlanta, Macon and Putnam County - where York's cult group, the United Nuwaubian Nation of Moors, has a 476-acre compound. The common law filings are similar to those used primarily in western states by anti-government militias.
Rubino made some effort to interpret for the judge.
"The defendant believes that somehow the uniform commercial code has some jurisdiction - I'm scratching for words here, please understand - over this court," Rubino said. "I don't understand this theory, and I don't propound it because I don't understand it. But he is the client, and I do my best to represent him."
York, who in 1993 moved from New York to Georgia with his followers and settled on a farm west of Eatonton, faces both federal and state charges of molesting children. He also faces federal charges of avoiding financial reporting requirements. York was arrested May 8, 2002. In January, he pleaded guilty to 77 state charges of molesting children. He also pleaded guilty to one federal charge of taking children across state lines for the purpose of having sex with them and another of avoiding financial reporting requirements.
Royal did not rule on any outstanding motions during the nearly 30-minute hearing. However, the defense attorneys said they had received correspondence from the U.S. Attorney's Office suggesting that York in November will likely face a new, superceding indictment that also will allege racketeering crimes.
Also, Rubino took exception to a notice from the U.S. Attorney's Office responding to the defense's witness list.
York apparently is on the list to testify, but federal law allows the government to prosecute both the defendant and his attorneys for perjury if the defendant changes his story from what he said when he pleaded guilty.
Rubino called the notice "a veiled threat," but Assistant U.S. Attorney Richard Moultrie said he was only following federal law.
Outside the courthouse, York's followers stood along Third Street carrying signs proclaiming their Indian heritage, and some played drums. This summer, York stood before Judge Lawson and claimed he is an "indigenous and sovereign" person and demanded that he be released to his "own people." During that and later hearings, York's followers have shown up wearing Native American-style clothing and playing drums.
"Not all Indians are Redskins," one of the signs said. "There are many black Indian tribes," another said.
York and his followers have also claimed Egyptians heritage.
York has claimed to be an angel or a being from another planet. He and his followers have also claimed to be Muslims, Jews and Christians.
Macon Telegraph/October 25, 2003
By Rob Peecher
A federal court judge determined Friday that Nuwaubian leader Malachi York withdrew his previous guilty plea to financial and child sex charges.
York did not directly answer questions from the court about his plea, but U.S. District Court Judge Ashley Royal determined through York's attorney that he wished to change his plea to "not guilty."
York faces federal charges of transporting children across state lines for sex and evading financial reporting requirements.
Also Friday, York's defense attorneys said they have been put on notice by the government that York will likely face a new round of indictments that include racketeering charges.
York's trial is scheduled for early January. U.S. marshals led York, whose head was newly shaved, into the Macon courtroom in an orange Jones County Jail jumpsuit. His ankles and wrists were bound. He sat at the defense table, flanked by his attorneys, Frank Rubino, Manny Arora and Ed Garland.
When Royal entered the courtroom, York refused to stand up. Two U.S. marshals pulled him to his feet and held him up until Royal told those in the courtroom to be seated.
Royal - who got the case after Judge Hugh Lawson recused himself - began the hearing by saying he was going to pick up where Lawson left off, signaling he would not accept the negotiated plea agreement between York and the government. Lawson, before recusing himself, had said he would not accept a 15-year sentence for York.
Royal also ruled Friday that, based on a recent psychiatric evaulation, York is competent to stand trial. Royal then asked if York would withdraw his guilty plea.
Rubino, one of his attorneys, said he had met with York for four hours the previous day.
"I think he will allow us to withdraw his plea of guilty and reinstate a plea of not guilty," Rubino said.
Typically, a defendant enters his plea on the record, but when Royal asked York to say whether he wanted to withdraw his guilty plea, York declined to give an affirmative response.
"As a private citizen and a secured party, I accept this for value," York said.
Royal then asked York a series of questions intended to illicit a direct answer, and York said only, "I accept this for value."
"With all due respect, if I respond to that question I'll be putting myself back in the public," York finally said. "I prefer not to participate in this forum. That's why I have an international attorney sitting here, and he can speak for me."
The language York used is similar to language in "common law" filings his followers have made in courts in Atlanta, Macon and Putnam County - where York's cult group, the United Nuwaubian Nation of Moors, has a 476-acre compound. The common law filings are similar to those used primarily in western states by anti-government militias.
Rubino made some effort to interpret for the judge.
"The defendant believes that somehow the uniform commercial code has some jurisdiction - I'm scratching for words here, please understand - over this court," Rubino said. "I don't understand this theory, and I don't propound it because I don't understand it. But he is the client, and I do my best to represent him."
York, who in 1993 moved from New York to Georgia with his followers and settled on a farm west of Eatonton, faces both federal and state charges of molesting children. He also faces federal charges of avoiding financial reporting requirements. York was arrested May 8, 2002. In January, he pleaded guilty to 77 state charges of molesting children. He also pleaded guilty to one federal charge of taking children across state lines for the purpose of having sex with them and another of avoiding financial reporting requirements.
Royal did not rule on any outstanding motions during the nearly 30-minute hearing. However, the defense attorneys said they had received correspondence from the U.S. Attorney's Office suggesting that York in November will likely face a new, superceding indictment that also will allege racketeering crimes.
Also, Rubino took exception to a notice from the U.S. Attorney's Office responding to the defense's witness list.
York apparently is on the list to testify, but federal law allows the government to prosecute both the defendant and his attorneys for perjury if the defendant changes his story from what he said when he pleaded guilty.
Rubino called the notice "a veiled threat," but Assistant U.S. Attorney Richard Moultrie said he was only following federal law.
Outside the courthouse, York's followers stood along Third Street carrying signs proclaiming their Indian heritage, and some played drums. This summer, York stood before Judge Lawson and claimed he is an "indigenous and sovereign" person and demanded that he be released to his "own people." During that and later hearings, York's followers have shown up wearing Native American-style clothing and playing drums.
"Not all Indians are Redskins," one of the signs said. "There are many black Indian tribes," another said.
York and his followers have also claimed Egyptians heritage.
York has claimed to be an angel or a being from another planet. He and his followers have also claimed to be Muslims, Jews and Christians.
York supporters file common-law claims seeking $1 billion
Macon Telegraph/October 23, 2003
By Rob Peecher
Eatonton -- Supporters of Nuwaubian leader Malachi York filed documents Wednesday with the Putnam County Clerk of Superior Court, demanding that state and local prosecutors, judges and law officers pay York more than $1 billion.
York, who is scheduled to appear before U.S. District Judge Ashley Royal for a status hearing Friday, faces numerous state and federal charges of molesting children.
The documents, which appear to be based on what is known as "common law" and frequently utilized by anti-government militias to harass public officials, also were filed in two child support actions against York.
Putnam County Sheriff Howard Sills, who is named among those owing York $1.069 billion, described the documents as "gobbledygook."
"It's hard to explain what they are," Sills said. "Once again, it's more of the same common law, (Uniform Commercial Code) filings that we've seen before. There's been a plethora of this about. There were recent incidents in DeKalb County involving fraud in housing purchases up there, and I'm aware of other similar filings by Nuwaubians in Bibb County recently."
York is the leader of the United Nuwaubian Nation of Moors, a quasi-religious sect that moved from New York to Putnam County in 1993. The group established its base at a 476-acre compound west of Eatonton where it erected pyramids, a sphinx and other Egyptian-style structures.
York was arrested in May 2002 and charged with more than 200 counts of molesting children. He pleaded guilty in January, but this summer U.S. District Court Judge Hugh Lawson rejected the 15-year negotiated sentence. Lawson later recused himself from the case, and now the case is before Royal.
York has not withdrawn his guilty plea, but he is scheduled to go to trial in January on the federal charges.
Officials in the Bibb County Superior Court clerk's office confirmed there had been a number of recent UCC filings, but declined to comment. Clerk of Court Dianne Brannen was unavailable for comment Wednesday.
The documents filed in Putnam County each exceed 30 pages. Among those named in the document demanding public officials to pay York more than $1 billion are: Sills; Ocmulgee Judicial Circuit Chief Judge William A. Prior and District Attorney Fred Bright; U.S. Attorney Max Wood and Assistant U.S. Attorney Richard Moultrie; U.S. District Judge Hugh Lawson; one of York's own attorneys, Manny Arora; and the Holy Roman Empire.
Most of the documents bear the signature of "David R. Williams" or "David Paul Williams."
The documents contain virtually nonsensical language, such as: "The purpose for notary is verification and identification only and not for entrance into any foreign U.S. jurisdiction, a benefit for the pagans and heathens so they whom I pray may become knowledgeable in the truth for matters in law by the creator Anu the Most High Heavenly one and repent, so they will no longer be alienated from their true creator, Anu the Creator of Heaven and Earth."
Mike Smith, the communications director for the Georgia Superior Court Clerk's Authority, said his office only keeps track of UCC filings and does not determine the legitimacy of the filings. But Smith said he is aware that "nuisance filings" are a problem in other states such as Oregon, where clerks are attempting to get legislation passed to address the problem. Legitimate UCC filings are filed by financial institutions or others lending money.
Sills said the documents were delivered by the same courier who delivered similar documents to the clerk of court in July. Among those was a document purporting to be signed by the governor, and Sills said at the time there might be charges pending against the person responsible for the forged document.
While the courier claims to have no knowledge of the contents of the documents, Sills said he admitted being a Nuwaubian.
Sills noted that York's followers have filed similar documents numerous times just before a hearing was scheduled. In July, two of York's followers met with and hand-delivered similar documents to Judge Lawson about two hours before a scheduled hearing.
York's attorneys Arora and Ed Garland did not immediately return calls seeking comment.
By Rob Peecher
Eatonton -- Supporters of Nuwaubian leader Malachi York filed documents Wednesday with the Putnam County Clerk of Superior Court, demanding that state and local prosecutors, judges and law officers pay York more than $1 billion.
York, who is scheduled to appear before U.S. District Judge Ashley Royal for a status hearing Friday, faces numerous state and federal charges of molesting children.
The documents, which appear to be based on what is known as "common law" and frequently utilized by anti-government militias to harass public officials, also were filed in two child support actions against York.
Putnam County Sheriff Howard Sills, who is named among those owing York $1.069 billion, described the documents as "gobbledygook."
"It's hard to explain what they are," Sills said. "Once again, it's more of the same common law, (Uniform Commercial Code) filings that we've seen before. There's been a plethora of this about. There were recent incidents in DeKalb County involving fraud in housing purchases up there, and I'm aware of other similar filings by Nuwaubians in Bibb County recently."
York is the leader of the United Nuwaubian Nation of Moors, a quasi-religious sect that moved from New York to Putnam County in 1993. The group established its base at a 476-acre compound west of Eatonton where it erected pyramids, a sphinx and other Egyptian-style structures.
York was arrested in May 2002 and charged with more than 200 counts of molesting children. He pleaded guilty in January, but this summer U.S. District Court Judge Hugh Lawson rejected the 15-year negotiated sentence. Lawson later recused himself from the case, and now the case is before Royal.
York has not withdrawn his guilty plea, but he is scheduled to go to trial in January on the federal charges.
Officials in the Bibb County Superior Court clerk's office confirmed there had been a number of recent UCC filings, but declined to comment. Clerk of Court Dianne Brannen was unavailable for comment Wednesday.
The documents filed in Putnam County each exceed 30 pages. Among those named in the document demanding public officials to pay York more than $1 billion are: Sills; Ocmulgee Judicial Circuit Chief Judge William A. Prior and District Attorney Fred Bright; U.S. Attorney Max Wood and Assistant U.S. Attorney Richard Moultrie; U.S. District Judge Hugh Lawson; one of York's own attorneys, Manny Arora; and the Holy Roman Empire.
Most of the documents bear the signature of "David R. Williams" or "David Paul Williams."
The documents contain virtually nonsensical language, such as: "The purpose for notary is verification and identification only and not for entrance into any foreign U.S. jurisdiction, a benefit for the pagans and heathens so they whom I pray may become knowledgeable in the truth for matters in law by the creator Anu the Most High Heavenly one and repent, so they will no longer be alienated from their true creator, Anu the Creator of Heaven and Earth."
Mike Smith, the communications director for the Georgia Superior Court Clerk's Authority, said his office only keeps track of UCC filings and does not determine the legitimacy of the filings. But Smith said he is aware that "nuisance filings" are a problem in other states such as Oregon, where clerks are attempting to get legislation passed to address the problem. Legitimate UCC filings are filed by financial institutions or others lending money.
Sills said the documents were delivered by the same courier who delivered similar documents to the clerk of court in July. Among those was a document purporting to be signed by the governor, and Sills said at the time there might be charges pending against the person responsible for the forged document.
While the courier claims to have no knowledge of the contents of the documents, Sills said he admitted being a Nuwaubian.
Sills noted that York's followers have filed similar documents numerous times just before a hearing was scheduled. In July, two of York's followers met with and hand-delivered similar documents to Judge Lawson about two hours before a scheduled hearing.
York's attorneys Arora and Ed Garland did not immediately return calls seeking comment.
Three Nuwaubian associates arrested in fraud case
Macon Telegraph/October 4, 2003
By Rob Peecher
Three men associated with the United Nuwaubian Nation of Moors, an embattled religious sect based in Eatonton, were arrested last week in DeKalb County after, police said, they tried to fraudulently buy two houses in Stone Mountain.
The men reportedly planned to sell the homes and turn the money over to the Nuwaubians to purchase 200 acres in Bibb County for a "rebirth" of the Nuwaubian Nation, said Sgt. K.K. Jones of DeKalb County Police Department's fraud unit.
"They submitted paperwork to a sales agent for the property," Jones said. "The sales agent submitted that to the bank, and it came back that the documents didn't have any true financial value to them."
The documents were "certified tenders that were tied to a lien they put on the (U.S.) Postal Service" for $283 million, Jones said.
One of the men, William Carroll, who is also known as Nayya Rafl El, had been fired from his job with the postal service in 1991. He was reinstated in 1999 after a judge determined the postal service didn't let him know he could appeal the firing.
"They had to reinstate him with back pay," Jones said. "He connected in with the Nuwaubians, and they told him the judge gave him a settlement."
According to Jones' description of events, Carroll utilized what is known as "common law," a system of law employed by anti-government militias that relies on what is called "voluntary contracts." In 1999, members of the Nuwaubian Nation began filing common law complaints against government officials, law enforcement officers, judges and members of the media.
Jones said Carroll made an offer of voluntary contract to the postal service for $283 million and then through the DeKalb County Clerk of Court filed a lien against the post office's payroll account, assets and real property.
Using documents they created based on this $283 million post office lien, the three men attempted to buy the houses in Stone Mountain, Jones said.
The other two men arrested in the case are Robert C. Dukes, who is also known as Nayya Elisha Isra EL, and Darius Sampson, who also goes by the name KhuFu. All three have been charged with theft by deception and identity fraud.
Jones said the men have admitted to being members of the Nuwaubian Nation, and said they were going to use money from selling the Stone Mountain houses to buy 200 acres in Bibb County, where they planned to support a "rebirth" of the Nuwaubian Nation.
Jones said he anticipates more arrests.
The Nuwaubian group has dwindled from what was once a membership in the thousands to an estimated few hundred since leader Malachi York was arrested in May 2002 and charged with state and federal counts of molesting children.
In January, just before he was scheduled to go to trial, York pleaded guilty to state and federal charges and the plea agreement would have put him in federal prison for 15 years.
But this summer, U.S. District Judge Hugh Thompson rejected the plea agreement, opening the door for York to withdraw his guilty plea. Thompson has since recused himself from the case.
York is currently in a court-ordered psychiatric evaluation in New York, and U.S. District Judge Ashley Royal, who is now the judge in the case, has scheduled the trial to begin after the first of the year.
York has not withdrawn his guilty plea on the state or federal charges, but did say in open court that he was coerced into pleading guilty.
York has claimed that he and his followers are indigenous people and that according to a United Nations treaty, he must be released to the custody of his own people for trial. When York and the Nuwaubians first moved to Putnam County from New York in 1993, York claimed to be from another planet.
By Rob Peecher
Three men associated with the United Nuwaubian Nation of Moors, an embattled religious sect based in Eatonton, were arrested last week in DeKalb County after, police said, they tried to fraudulently buy two houses in Stone Mountain.
The men reportedly planned to sell the homes and turn the money over to the Nuwaubians to purchase 200 acres in Bibb County for a "rebirth" of the Nuwaubian Nation, said Sgt. K.K. Jones of DeKalb County Police Department's fraud unit.
"They submitted paperwork to a sales agent for the property," Jones said. "The sales agent submitted that to the bank, and it came back that the documents didn't have any true financial value to them."
The documents were "certified tenders that were tied to a lien they put on the (U.S.) Postal Service" for $283 million, Jones said.
One of the men, William Carroll, who is also known as Nayya Rafl El, had been fired from his job with the postal service in 1991. He was reinstated in 1999 after a judge determined the postal service didn't let him know he could appeal the firing.
"They had to reinstate him with back pay," Jones said. "He connected in with the Nuwaubians, and they told him the judge gave him a settlement."
According to Jones' description of events, Carroll utilized what is known as "common law," a system of law employed by anti-government militias that relies on what is called "voluntary contracts." In 1999, members of the Nuwaubian Nation began filing common law complaints against government officials, law enforcement officers, judges and members of the media.
Jones said Carroll made an offer of voluntary contract to the postal service for $283 million and then through the DeKalb County Clerk of Court filed a lien against the post office's payroll account, assets and real property.
Using documents they created based on this $283 million post office lien, the three men attempted to buy the houses in Stone Mountain, Jones said.
The other two men arrested in the case are Robert C. Dukes, who is also known as Nayya Elisha Isra EL, and Darius Sampson, who also goes by the name KhuFu. All three have been charged with theft by deception and identity fraud.
Jones said the men have admitted to being members of the Nuwaubian Nation, and said they were going to use money from selling the Stone Mountain houses to buy 200 acres in Bibb County, where they planned to support a "rebirth" of the Nuwaubian Nation.
Jones said he anticipates more arrests.
The Nuwaubian group has dwindled from what was once a membership in the thousands to an estimated few hundred since leader Malachi York was arrested in May 2002 and charged with state and federal counts of molesting children.
In January, just before he was scheduled to go to trial, York pleaded guilty to state and federal charges and the plea agreement would have put him in federal prison for 15 years.
But this summer, U.S. District Judge Hugh Thompson rejected the plea agreement, opening the door for York to withdraw his guilty plea. Thompson has since recused himself from the case.
York is currently in a court-ordered psychiatric evaluation in New York, and U.S. District Judge Ashley Royal, who is now the judge in the case, has scheduled the trial to begin after the first of the year.
York has not withdrawn his guilty plea on the state or federal charges, but did say in open court that he was coerced into pleading guilty.
York has claimed that he and his followers are indigenous people and that according to a United Nations treaty, he must be released to the custody of his own people for trial. When York and the Nuwaubians first moved to Putnam County from New York in 1993, York claimed to be from another planet.
Government seeks York's money, properties
Macon Telegraph/July 23, 2003
By Rob Peecher
Eatonton -- The U.S. Attorney's office in Macon has filed a civil suit seeking the forfeiture of money and property from cult leader Malachi York.
The property includes the 476-acre Putnam County compound where York and his followers, the United Nuwaubian Nation of Moors, erected pyramids, a sphinx and other Egyptian-style statues. The government also wants York's home that is in an upscale Athens neighborhood. York's followers refer to the home as "the mansion."
Also, U.S. District Court Judge Ashley Royal will preside over York's federal criminal case after Judge Hugh Lawson recused himself, according to the federal clerk of court's office.
Lawson had rejected a negotiated plea agreement between the government and York's defense team because he believed the 15-year negotiated sentence was too lenient. One of York's attorneys said this week that the defense is hopeful that Royal will accept the negotiated plea.
In addition to the two properties being sought through the civil suit, the government is also seeking the forfeiture of $430,000 seized by federal agents who raided the compound and York's Athens home when he was arrested in May of 2002.
U.S. Attorney Max Wood said Tuesday that when Lawson rejected the negotiated plea the government effectively lost the $430,000 which York had forfeited as part of the plea. The civil suit seeks to allow the government to regain that money and adds the two properties.
"What we're doing is we filed a civil action, a forfeiture action, against the money seized back in May of 2002 and against the property, and that is a result of the plea being rejected by Judge Lawson," Wood said.
Though York was for several years the sole owner of the property in Putnam County, shortly before his arrest he deeded the property to three members of his group: Ethel Richardson, Anthony Evans and Patrice Evans. To take the property, the government will have to prove that York effectively maintained control of the property and conducted criminal activity there.
"We have a burden of proving that criminal activity was associated with that property," Wood said.
The three people who hold title to the land "would be entitled to respond to any forfeiture complaint we filed," Wood said.
The government has maintained possession of the cash since it was seized during York's arrest and during the raids on the two properties, and will hold it while it is still subject to civil litigation.
After his arrest, York was indicted by a federal grand jury and a Putnam County grand jury. In January, just before the trial was to begin on the state charges, York pleaded guilty in federal court to one count of attempting to evade federal financial reporting requirements and one count of transporting minors across state lines for the purpose of having sex with them. He then pleaded guilty to 77 state charges mostly involving child molestation and aggravated child molestation.
By Rob Peecher
Eatonton -- The U.S. Attorney's office in Macon has filed a civil suit seeking the forfeiture of money and property from cult leader Malachi York.
The property includes the 476-acre Putnam County compound where York and his followers, the United Nuwaubian Nation of Moors, erected pyramids, a sphinx and other Egyptian-style statues. The government also wants York's home that is in an upscale Athens neighborhood. York's followers refer to the home as "the mansion."
Also, U.S. District Court Judge Ashley Royal will preside over York's federal criminal case after Judge Hugh Lawson recused himself, according to the federal clerk of court's office.
Lawson had rejected a negotiated plea agreement between the government and York's defense team because he believed the 15-year negotiated sentence was too lenient. One of York's attorneys said this week that the defense is hopeful that Royal will accept the negotiated plea.
In addition to the two properties being sought through the civil suit, the government is also seeking the forfeiture of $430,000 seized by federal agents who raided the compound and York's Athens home when he was arrested in May of 2002.
U.S. Attorney Max Wood said Tuesday that when Lawson rejected the negotiated plea the government effectively lost the $430,000 which York had forfeited as part of the plea. The civil suit seeks to allow the government to regain that money and adds the two properties.
"What we're doing is we filed a civil action, a forfeiture action, against the money seized back in May of 2002 and against the property, and that is a result of the plea being rejected by Judge Lawson," Wood said.
Though York was for several years the sole owner of the property in Putnam County, shortly before his arrest he deeded the property to three members of his group: Ethel Richardson, Anthony Evans and Patrice Evans. To take the property, the government will have to prove that York effectively maintained control of the property and conducted criminal activity there.
"We have a burden of proving that criminal activity was associated with that property," Wood said.
The three people who hold title to the land "would be entitled to respond to any forfeiture complaint we filed," Wood said.
The government has maintained possession of the cash since it was seized during York's arrest and during the raids on the two properties, and will hold it while it is still subject to civil litigation.
After his arrest, York was indicted by a federal grand jury and a Putnam County grand jury. In January, just before the trial was to begin on the state charges, York pleaded guilty in federal court to one count of attempting to evade federal financial reporting requirements and one count of transporting minors across state lines for the purpose of having sex with them. He then pleaded guilty to 77 state charges mostly involving child molestation and aggravated child molestation.
July 19, 2009
Judge recuses himself from York's trial
Macon Telegraph
July 22, 2003
By Rob Peecher
The judge hearing the case of cult leader and confessed child molester Malachi York has stepped aside at the request of York's lawyers.
In an order filed late last Friday, U.S. District Court Judge Hugh Lawson recused himself from the case.
Lawson rejected a plea agreement reached between the U.S. Attorney's Office and the defense, and his decision opens the door again for York's guilty plea to go through.
In January, York pleaded guilty in both federal and state courts to numerous charges involving child molestation. In June, Lawson rejected York's deal with federal prosecutors, after telling lawyers in the case that he thought the proposed 15-year sentence was too lenient.
Early this month, York's lawyers asked Lawson to remove himself from the case, arguing that he had interfered in the plea-bargain process by stating what he thought would be an appropriate sentence.
Both guilty pleas still stand, though York has the opportunity to withdraw the plea because Lawson rejected the plea agreement.
Manny Arora, one of York's defense attorneys, said Monday that the defense will ask the new judge to accept that plea.
"We're not sure who the new judge is or anything about him," Arora said. "We will also ask this judge to accept the plea as it was negotiated, but the U.S. Attorney may have a different point of view, and the new judge, obviously, has to make his own decision as to whether he will accept this plea or not."
U.S. Attorney Max Wood declined to comment on whether the government would oppose the guilty plea. However, there have been two hearings since Lawson first rejected the plea agreement, and York has not withdrawn his guilty plea at either.
According to the plea agreement, York would have spent 15 years in a federal prison. A 15-year negotiated state sentence was to run concurrent with the federal sentence. In his order recusing himself, Lawson said he rejected the plea agreement in May because he thought York should serve at least 20 years in prison.
May 28, Lawson "met with counsel for the government and counsel for the defendant for the purpose of advising them that the court had decided to reject the plea agreement previously negotiated by the government and the defendant," Lawson wrote in his order. "The court explained that after consideration ... the court had come to the conclusion that the 15-year sentence to be imposed under the plea agreement was too lenient."
According to the order, Lawson then "indicated that a sentence of 20 years might be acceptable."
July 10, York's lawyers Ed Garland and Arora argued that Lawson had improperly participated in the negotiations and asked that the judge remove himself from the case. Last Friday, Lawson signed the order doing just that.
The U.S. district clerk of court's office will be responsible for appointing a new judge to the case, but Wood said he didn't know how long that would take.
"The ruling doesn't change anything we're doing," Wood said. "We're preparing for trial. We have many excellent judges in our district, and we'll be ready for trial whoever the judge is, wherever the trial is and whenever the trial is."
May 8, 2002, federal agents arrested York in the parking lot of a Milledgeville grocery store. Simultaneously, FBI SWAT teams and local sheriff's deputies raided the 476-acre farm in Putnam County where York and his followers, the United Nuwaubian Nation of Moors, were based. Federal agents also raided York's home in Athens.
The arrest was the culmination of months of investigation by the Putnam County Sheriff's Office and the FBI into allegations by the children of members of his group that York had molested them.
Just before the trial on a 208-count state indictment was to begin in early February, York pleaded guilty to two federal counts of transporting children across state lines for the purpose of having sex with them and for attempting to evade financial reporting requirements. He also pleaded guilty to 77 state charges mostly consisting of child molestation and aggravated child molestation.
Since Lawson rejected York's plea agreement, two hearings have been held at the federal courthouse in Macon. Both hearings were notable for the number of York's supporters who attended. More than 250 Nuwaubians attended the first hearing in late June, and about 150 attended the hearing earlier this month.
During the June hearing, York asserted that he is an American Indian, "a sovereign" not subject to federal law. He argued with his attorneys and told a judge that according to United Nations treaties he should be turned over to his "tribe" for trial.
York and his followers moved to Putnam County from New York in 1993. Beginning in 1998, York and the Nuwaubians have been involved in a court battle with Putnam County officials over zoning violations.
The Nuwaubian compound, at 404 Shady Dale Road, features two pyramids, a sphinx and other Egyptian-style statues and building facades.
July 22, 2003
By Rob Peecher
The judge hearing the case of cult leader and confessed child molester Malachi York has stepped aside at the request of York's lawyers.
In an order filed late last Friday, U.S. District Court Judge Hugh Lawson recused himself from the case.
Lawson rejected a plea agreement reached between the U.S. Attorney's Office and the defense, and his decision opens the door again for York's guilty plea to go through.
In January, York pleaded guilty in both federal and state courts to numerous charges involving child molestation. In June, Lawson rejected York's deal with federal prosecutors, after telling lawyers in the case that he thought the proposed 15-year sentence was too lenient.
Early this month, York's lawyers asked Lawson to remove himself from the case, arguing that he had interfered in the plea-bargain process by stating what he thought would be an appropriate sentence.
Both guilty pleas still stand, though York has the opportunity to withdraw the plea because Lawson rejected the plea agreement.
Manny Arora, one of York's defense attorneys, said Monday that the defense will ask the new judge to accept that plea.
"We're not sure who the new judge is or anything about him," Arora said. "We will also ask this judge to accept the plea as it was negotiated, but the U.S. Attorney may have a different point of view, and the new judge, obviously, has to make his own decision as to whether he will accept this plea or not."
U.S. Attorney Max Wood declined to comment on whether the government would oppose the guilty plea. However, there have been two hearings since Lawson first rejected the plea agreement, and York has not withdrawn his guilty plea at either.
According to the plea agreement, York would have spent 15 years in a federal prison. A 15-year negotiated state sentence was to run concurrent with the federal sentence. In his order recusing himself, Lawson said he rejected the plea agreement in May because he thought York should serve at least 20 years in prison.
May 28, Lawson "met with counsel for the government and counsel for the defendant for the purpose of advising them that the court had decided to reject the plea agreement previously negotiated by the government and the defendant," Lawson wrote in his order. "The court explained that after consideration ... the court had come to the conclusion that the 15-year sentence to be imposed under the plea agreement was too lenient."
According to the order, Lawson then "indicated that a sentence of 20 years might be acceptable."
July 10, York's lawyers Ed Garland and Arora argued that Lawson had improperly participated in the negotiations and asked that the judge remove himself from the case. Last Friday, Lawson signed the order doing just that.
The U.S. district clerk of court's office will be responsible for appointing a new judge to the case, but Wood said he didn't know how long that would take.
"The ruling doesn't change anything we're doing," Wood said. "We're preparing for trial. We have many excellent judges in our district, and we'll be ready for trial whoever the judge is, wherever the trial is and whenever the trial is."
May 8, 2002, federal agents arrested York in the parking lot of a Milledgeville grocery store. Simultaneously, FBI SWAT teams and local sheriff's deputies raided the 476-acre farm in Putnam County where York and his followers, the United Nuwaubian Nation of Moors, were based. Federal agents also raided York's home in Athens.
The arrest was the culmination of months of investigation by the Putnam County Sheriff's Office and the FBI into allegations by the children of members of his group that York had molested them.
Just before the trial on a 208-count state indictment was to begin in early February, York pleaded guilty to two federal counts of transporting children across state lines for the purpose of having sex with them and for attempting to evade financial reporting requirements. He also pleaded guilty to 77 state charges mostly consisting of child molestation and aggravated child molestation.
Since Lawson rejected York's plea agreement, two hearings have been held at the federal courthouse in Macon. Both hearings were notable for the number of York's supporters who attended. More than 250 Nuwaubians attended the first hearing in late June, and about 150 attended the hearing earlier this month.
During the June hearing, York asserted that he is an American Indian, "a sovereign" not subject to federal law. He argued with his attorneys and told a judge that according to United Nations treaties he should be turned over to his "tribe" for trial.
York and his followers moved to Putnam County from New York in 1993. Beginning in 1998, York and the Nuwaubians have been involved in a court battle with Putnam County officials over zoning violations.
The Nuwaubian compound, at 404 Shady Dale Road, features two pyramids, a sphinx and other Egyptian-style statues and building facades.
Attorney: York competent to stand trial
York's attorneys file motion asking judge to rescind order
Macon Telegraph
July 17, 2003
By Rob Peecher
Two days after a federal judge ordered confessed child molester Malachi York to undergo a psychiatric evaluation, his attorneys filed a motion asking the judge to rescind that order.
The motion filed Wednesday seeks to assure the judge that York, the leader of the cult-like group the United Nuwaubian Nation of Moors, is competent to stand trial, willing to cooperate with his attorneys and does not want the psychiatric evaluation. Frank Rubino, the newest member of York's defense team, filed the motion.
"This attorney spent approximately two hours with Mr. York, and at all times Mr. York was coherent, logical, helpful and eager to aid in the preparation of his case," Rubino wrote in the motion. "It was clear that Mr. York could appreciate the nature and consequences of the proceedings against him."
U.S. District Judge Hugh Lawson ordered Monday that York be transferred to the custody of the federal Bureau of Prisons to be evaluated to determine his competency to stand trial. The order was based on a motion filed by York's lawyers Ed Garland and Manny Arora and on the results of a brief psychiatric evaluation conducted earlier this month.
York pleaded guilty in January to state and federal charges of child molestation.
According to an agreement between prosecutors and York's attorneys, York was to serve 15 years in prison. But Lawson rejected the plea agreement and said he would sentence York to at least 20 years.
In June, York told Lawson during a hearing that he is an American Indian and sovereign, and therefore not subject to federal law. He also argued audibly with his attorneys. It was during that hearing that Garland and Arora asked for the competency evaluation. Rubino was not yet representing York at that time.
Rubino said Wednesday that York is now cooperating, and the defense no longer thinks there is a need for a psychiatric evaluation.
"The client has now come around. He's being helpful, he appears lucid, he appears fine," Rubino said. "He was not cooperating. He was basically stonewalling (his attorneys), but now he's come around, and it has become a moot issue as far as we're concerned."
Rubino said his involvement in the case might have been what made York decide to start cooperating with his attorneys because "sometimes it takes a fresh face to stimulate the client and get things back on track."
As of Wednesday, no hearing had been scheduled on the new motion, though Lawson could rule on it without a hearing, Rubino said.
York has yet to decide whether to withdraw his guilty plea to federal charges of transporting minors across state lines for the purpose of having sex with them and attempting to evade federal financial reporting requirements. He also has not withdrawn a guilty plea to 77 state counts of child molestation.
Macon Telegraph
July 17, 2003
By Rob Peecher
Two days after a federal judge ordered confessed child molester Malachi York to undergo a psychiatric evaluation, his attorneys filed a motion asking the judge to rescind that order.
The motion filed Wednesday seeks to assure the judge that York, the leader of the cult-like group the United Nuwaubian Nation of Moors, is competent to stand trial, willing to cooperate with his attorneys and does not want the psychiatric evaluation. Frank Rubino, the newest member of York's defense team, filed the motion.
"This attorney spent approximately two hours with Mr. York, and at all times Mr. York was coherent, logical, helpful and eager to aid in the preparation of his case," Rubino wrote in the motion. "It was clear that Mr. York could appreciate the nature and consequences of the proceedings against him."
U.S. District Judge Hugh Lawson ordered Monday that York be transferred to the custody of the federal Bureau of Prisons to be evaluated to determine his competency to stand trial. The order was based on a motion filed by York's lawyers Ed Garland and Manny Arora and on the results of a brief psychiatric evaluation conducted earlier this month.
York pleaded guilty in January to state and federal charges of child molestation.
According to an agreement between prosecutors and York's attorneys, York was to serve 15 years in prison. But Lawson rejected the plea agreement and said he would sentence York to at least 20 years.
In June, York told Lawson during a hearing that he is an American Indian and sovereign, and therefore not subject to federal law. He also argued audibly with his attorneys. It was during that hearing that Garland and Arora asked for the competency evaluation. Rubino was not yet representing York at that time.
Rubino said Wednesday that York is now cooperating, and the defense no longer thinks there is a need for a psychiatric evaluation.
"The client has now come around. He's being helpful, he appears lucid, he appears fine," Rubino said. "He was not cooperating. He was basically stonewalling (his attorneys), but now he's come around, and it has become a moot issue as far as we're concerned."
Rubino said his involvement in the case might have been what made York decide to start cooperating with his attorneys because "sometimes it takes a fresh face to stimulate the client and get things back on track."
As of Wednesday, no hearing had been scheduled on the new motion, though Lawson could rule on it without a hearing, Rubino said.
York has yet to decide whether to withdraw his guilty plea to federal charges of transporting minors across state lines for the purpose of having sex with them and attempting to evade federal financial reporting requirements. He also has not withdrawn a guilty plea to 77 state counts of child molestation.
Judge order York competency test
Macon Telegraph
July 15, 2003
By Rob Peecher
A judge issued an order Monday requiring confessed child molester Malachi York to undergo a psychological evaluation at a federal facility, U.S. Attorney Max Wood confirmed.
The evaluation likely will delay the start of York's trial, tentatively set for early next month, said Wood.
"I can't imagine us being ready for trial - getting (the psychological examination) completed by Aug. 4," he said.
U.S. District Judge Hugh Lawson's order had not been filed Monday in the U.S. District Courthouse in Macon. Wood said he was aware of the order but had not seen it.
York's attorney, Manny Arora, also had not seen the order late Monday afternoon. He said the defense had asked for an evaluation to determine York's competency to understand the process of his federal criminal case.
"This is not an insanity issue - this is simply to make sure he understands the proceedings," Arora said. "The trial cannot go forward until he is deemed to be competent."
York pleaded guilty in January to 77 state counts dealing almost entirely with child sex abuse charges and two federal counts involving taking children across state lines for the purpose of having sex with them and avoiding federal financial reporting requirements.
York has not withdrawn his guilty pleas in either the state or federal charges, but Lawson rejected the 15-year prison sentence agreed to during plea negotiations between the U.S. Attorney's Office and York's lawyers.
Lawson said if York follows through with the guilty plea, he likely will be sentenced to serve 20 years in prison, rather than 15.
Lawson also told both sides to be ready for trial Aug. 4 in the event that York withdraws his plea.
York's attorneys have reported to the judge that he has been uncooperative with them, and during a hearing in June, York told the judge he was a sovereign American Indians, not subject to the federal laws. York demanded that he be turned over to his "tribe" for trial.
"I think he's hanging his hat on something that, unfortunately - as the judge asked us - doesn't have any legal basis," Arora said.
Arora noted that federal law does provide special considerations for American Indians in some civil law, but American Indians are still subject to criminal law. Also, York appears to be relying on a forged document purporting to be signed by Gov. Sonny Perdue as proof that he is an American Indian.
Arora said York was initially uncooperative when a court-appointed psychologist attempted to interview him July 4, but did cooperate during a second interview July 7. He said he has not received the results of that interview.
Wood declined to comment on York's competency.
York, the leader of the cult-like group, the United Nuwaubian Nation of Moors, moved from New York to a 476-acre farm in Putnam County in 1993. Just prior to that move, York and his followers were living on a camp in the Catskill Mountains where they had erected at least one tepee and were claiming American Indian heritage.
York, at the time, referred to himself as Chief Black Eagle, and followers still loyal to him recently have reverted back to that name. During two recent hearings in Macon, Nuwaubians have attended wearing American Indian-style clothing and beaded headdresses with feathers.
Since coming to Putnam County, though, the group has claimed ancestry from ancient Egyptians. The group also has claimed to be Muslim, Jewish and Christian. York claimed to be from another planet and has told his followers he is an angel. The group also has claimed to be affiliated with Freemasons.
In 1998, Putnam County and the Nuwaubians began a public court battle, mostly over zoning violations, that lasted until just before York's arrest by federal and local authorities in May 2002.
Late Monday, York was still being held in the Jones County Jail. It was unclear what federal facility he will be sent to. Arora guessed the evaluation will last 30 to 45 days.
July 15, 2003
By Rob Peecher
A judge issued an order Monday requiring confessed child molester Malachi York to undergo a psychological evaluation at a federal facility, U.S. Attorney Max Wood confirmed.
The evaluation likely will delay the start of York's trial, tentatively set for early next month, said Wood.
"I can't imagine us being ready for trial - getting (the psychological examination) completed by Aug. 4," he said.
U.S. District Judge Hugh Lawson's order had not been filed Monday in the U.S. District Courthouse in Macon. Wood said he was aware of the order but had not seen it.
York's attorney, Manny Arora, also had not seen the order late Monday afternoon. He said the defense had asked for an evaluation to determine York's competency to understand the process of his federal criminal case.
"This is not an insanity issue - this is simply to make sure he understands the proceedings," Arora said. "The trial cannot go forward until he is deemed to be competent."
York pleaded guilty in January to 77 state counts dealing almost entirely with child sex abuse charges and two federal counts involving taking children across state lines for the purpose of having sex with them and avoiding federal financial reporting requirements.
York has not withdrawn his guilty pleas in either the state or federal charges, but Lawson rejected the 15-year prison sentence agreed to during plea negotiations between the U.S. Attorney's Office and York's lawyers.
Lawson said if York follows through with the guilty plea, he likely will be sentenced to serve 20 years in prison, rather than 15.
Lawson also told both sides to be ready for trial Aug. 4 in the event that York withdraws his plea.
York's attorneys have reported to the judge that he has been uncooperative with them, and during a hearing in June, York told the judge he was a sovereign American Indians, not subject to the federal laws. York demanded that he be turned over to his "tribe" for trial.
"I think he's hanging his hat on something that, unfortunately - as the judge asked us - doesn't have any legal basis," Arora said.
Arora noted that federal law does provide special considerations for American Indians in some civil law, but American Indians are still subject to criminal law. Also, York appears to be relying on a forged document purporting to be signed by Gov. Sonny Perdue as proof that he is an American Indian.
Arora said York was initially uncooperative when a court-appointed psychologist attempted to interview him July 4, but did cooperate during a second interview July 7. He said he has not received the results of that interview.
Wood declined to comment on York's competency.
York, the leader of the cult-like group, the United Nuwaubian Nation of Moors, moved from New York to a 476-acre farm in Putnam County in 1993. Just prior to that move, York and his followers were living on a camp in the Catskill Mountains where they had erected at least one tepee and were claiming American Indian heritage.
York, at the time, referred to himself as Chief Black Eagle, and followers still loyal to him recently have reverted back to that name. During two recent hearings in Macon, Nuwaubians have attended wearing American Indian-style clothing and beaded headdresses with feathers.
Since coming to Putnam County, though, the group has claimed ancestry from ancient Egyptians. The group also has claimed to be Muslim, Jewish and Christian. York claimed to be from another planet and has told his followers he is an angel. The group also has claimed to be affiliated with Freemasons.
In 1998, Putnam County and the Nuwaubians began a public court battle, mostly over zoning violations, that lasted until just before York's arrest by federal and local authorities in May 2002.
Late Monday, York was still being held in the Jones County Jail. It was unclear what federal facility he will be sent to. Arora guessed the evaluation will last 30 to 45 days.
York lawyer asks for new judge
The Macon Telegraph
July 11, 2003
By Sharon E. Crawford
A Nuwaubian supporter drums outside the Federal Courthouse in Macon during Nuwaubian leader Malachi York's hearing Thursday.
A defense attorney for religious leader and admitted child molester Malachi York asked a federal judge Thursday to recuse himself from the case, arguing that the judge inadvertently involved himself in plea negotiations.
"This has created an impact and prejudice on the defendant to make decisions" about his case, defense lawyer Ed Garland said. "We say that there has been a participation in the process by the court ... and an appearance of bias can be inferred."
Garland's motion was the latest twist in the case. Last week, York told Lawson he was a sovereign Indian chief and therefore not subject to federal law.
As of Thursday, York had not revoked his guilty plea and federal prosecutors were preparing for an Aug. 4 trial. York did not speak to the court Thursday and made only a few comments to his three attorneys.
York pleaded guilty in January to taking children across state lines for the purpose of having sex with them and to evading federal financial reporting requirements. He agreed to a 15-year federal sentence in the case.
In May, Federal Judge Hugh Lawson met with attorneys in the case to tell them he was planning to deny their plea agreement because it didn't call for enough prison time for York.
At that time, Garland, an Atlanta attorney and one of York's defenders, asked Lawson what the judge felt was a proper sentence in the case. Garland said in court Thursday that Lawson said 20 years was more appropriate.
"I know the court did not want to put itself in the plea bargaining process," Garland said. "(Both the defense and the prosecution) played a role into bringing the situation to where it is ... the situation the defendant finds himself in ... is that he has been advised as to what sentence the court feels is appropriate."
U.S. Attorney Richard Moultrie said federal officials do not believe Lawson acted inappropriately when responding to Garland's question about sentencing for York. He said Lawson's comment was made long after York entered a guilty plea.
Garland said York could not consider revoking his guilty plea until Lawson rules on the motion to recuse.
Garland also said he felt Lawson made his decision on sentencing after reading an erroneous presentencing report. Lawson told Garland it was common procedure to read the reports, which are written in all federal cases, before accepting or rejecting a guilty plea.
"One of the curious things about your arguments is the perverted idea that the court is not allowed to base any opinion on the presentencing report, which is an arm of the court," Lawson said.
Thursday, Lawson did not rule on the motion to recuse or another motion to suppress evidence seized by federal and local officials when they searched two of York's residences in Putnam County and in Athens.
U.S. Attorney Max Wood said he expects Lawson to rule on both motions before Aug. 4.
"We are ready to go to trial and will abide by the rulings of the court," Wood said.
In the second motion, the defense asked the court to throw out certain items - everything from pornographic videos to an animal-printed pillow - confiscated in the Nuwaubian complex in Putnam County in May 2002.
Federal prosecutors asked Lawson not to rule on that motion until York revoked his guilty plea. Lawson declined to rule on the motion Thursday, but didn't say when he would make a ruling.
During the hearing, Lawson read an order making public a May 28 meeting in his chamber among all of the lawyers in the case. At the time of the meeting, both the prosecution and the defense said they didn't want the meeting to be part of the court record.
In the meeting, Lawson said both sides asked the court to accept the plea agreement and said a 15-year prison sentence was appropriate. When Lawson refused to accept the agreement, he said, Moultrie offered to drop all but one charge against York in an effort to get a 15-year sentence.
"(The prosecution) said they were concerned that if the plea was rejected, $400,000 in forfeited items would be lost," Lawson said. "They also expressed concerns about the emotional trauma and stress a trial would put on the victims in this case who have wanted to put their relationships with the defendant behind them."
Thursday, more than 100 of York's supporters stood outside the U.S. federal court house while the court proceedings were ongoing. Only 30 people, several of them women dressed in Native American-type clothing and hairstyles, were allowed to sit in the courtroom during York's hearing.
Several women smiled when York, who was dressed in an orange prison jumpsuit and shackled at the hands and feet, walked in the courtroom. After the proceedings, the same women blew kisses at the defendant as he was escorted out of the room by six federal agents.
Outside, federal and state law enforcement officers walked alongside other York supporters as they played the drums and chanted songs.
Also Thursday, Garland introduced south Florida attorney Frank Rubino as the newest member of York's defense team. Rubino, who did not speak in Thursday's hearing, was the lead defense attorney for former Panamanian strongman Gen. Manuel Noriega.
York, who has been the leader of a cult group since the 1970s, and a group of his supporters moved to a 476-acre farm in Putnam County in 1993 from New York.
At various times, members of the United Nuwaubian Nation of Moors have claimed to be Egyptians, space aliens and Native Americans and connected to various religious groups, including Christians, Jews and Muslims.
July 11, 2003
By Sharon E. Crawford
A Nuwaubian supporter drums outside the Federal Courthouse in Macon during Nuwaubian leader Malachi York's hearing Thursday.
A defense attorney for religious leader and admitted child molester Malachi York asked a federal judge Thursday to recuse himself from the case, arguing that the judge inadvertently involved himself in plea negotiations.
"This has created an impact and prejudice on the defendant to make decisions" about his case, defense lawyer Ed Garland said. "We say that there has been a participation in the process by the court ... and an appearance of bias can be inferred."
Garland's motion was the latest twist in the case. Last week, York told Lawson he was a sovereign Indian chief and therefore not subject to federal law.
As of Thursday, York had not revoked his guilty plea and federal prosecutors were preparing for an Aug. 4 trial. York did not speak to the court Thursday and made only a few comments to his three attorneys.
York pleaded guilty in January to taking children across state lines for the purpose of having sex with them and to evading federal financial reporting requirements. He agreed to a 15-year federal sentence in the case.
In May, Federal Judge Hugh Lawson met with attorneys in the case to tell them he was planning to deny their plea agreement because it didn't call for enough prison time for York.
At that time, Garland, an Atlanta attorney and one of York's defenders, asked Lawson what the judge felt was a proper sentence in the case. Garland said in court Thursday that Lawson said 20 years was more appropriate.
"I know the court did not want to put itself in the plea bargaining process," Garland said. "(Both the defense and the prosecution) played a role into bringing the situation to where it is ... the situation the defendant finds himself in ... is that he has been advised as to what sentence the court feels is appropriate."
U.S. Attorney Richard Moultrie said federal officials do not believe Lawson acted inappropriately when responding to Garland's question about sentencing for York. He said Lawson's comment was made long after York entered a guilty plea.
Garland said York could not consider revoking his guilty plea until Lawson rules on the motion to recuse.
Garland also said he felt Lawson made his decision on sentencing after reading an erroneous presentencing report. Lawson told Garland it was common procedure to read the reports, which are written in all federal cases, before accepting or rejecting a guilty plea.
"One of the curious things about your arguments is the perverted idea that the court is not allowed to base any opinion on the presentencing report, which is an arm of the court," Lawson said.
Thursday, Lawson did not rule on the motion to recuse or another motion to suppress evidence seized by federal and local officials when they searched two of York's residences in Putnam County and in Athens.
U.S. Attorney Max Wood said he expects Lawson to rule on both motions before Aug. 4.
"We are ready to go to trial and will abide by the rulings of the court," Wood said.
In the second motion, the defense asked the court to throw out certain items - everything from pornographic videos to an animal-printed pillow - confiscated in the Nuwaubian complex in Putnam County in May 2002.
Federal prosecutors asked Lawson not to rule on that motion until York revoked his guilty plea. Lawson declined to rule on the motion Thursday, but didn't say when he would make a ruling.
During the hearing, Lawson read an order making public a May 28 meeting in his chamber among all of the lawyers in the case. At the time of the meeting, both the prosecution and the defense said they didn't want the meeting to be part of the court record.
In the meeting, Lawson said both sides asked the court to accept the plea agreement and said a 15-year prison sentence was appropriate. When Lawson refused to accept the agreement, he said, Moultrie offered to drop all but one charge against York in an effort to get a 15-year sentence.
"(The prosecution) said they were concerned that if the plea was rejected, $400,000 in forfeited items would be lost," Lawson said. "They also expressed concerns about the emotional trauma and stress a trial would put on the victims in this case who have wanted to put their relationships with the defendant behind them."
Thursday, more than 100 of York's supporters stood outside the U.S. federal court house while the court proceedings were ongoing. Only 30 people, several of them women dressed in Native American-type clothing and hairstyles, were allowed to sit in the courtroom during York's hearing.
Several women smiled when York, who was dressed in an orange prison jumpsuit and shackled at the hands and feet, walked in the courtroom. After the proceedings, the same women blew kisses at the defendant as he was escorted out of the room by six federal agents.
Outside, federal and state law enforcement officers walked alongside other York supporters as they played the drums and chanted songs.
Also Thursday, Garland introduced south Florida attorney Frank Rubino as the newest member of York's defense team. Rubino, who did not speak in Thursday's hearing, was the lead defense attorney for former Panamanian strongman Gen. Manuel Noriega.
York, who has been the leader of a cult group since the 1970s, and a group of his supporters moved to a 476-acre farm in Putnam County in 1993 from New York.
At various times, members of the United Nuwaubian Nation of Moors have claimed to be Egyptians, space aliens and Native Americans and connected to various religious groups, including Christians, Jews and Muslims.
York claims immunity as Indian
Defense raises new issues as about 200 show support
Macon Telegraph
July 1, 2003
By Rob Peecher
Cult leader and confessed child molester Malachi York told a federal court judge Monday that he is a sovereign Indian chief and therefore not subject to federal law.
At a hearing to determine whether York would continue to plead guilty to charges involving child molestation and financial reporting fraud, York failed to answer if he plans to withdraw his guilty plea. But he did demand that the court turn him over to his followers who, he said, would try him.
York asserted that he is "Chief Black Eagle" of the "Yamassee" tribe, which he claimed is recognized by the United Nations. About 200 of York's followers - many wearing what appeared to be American Indian-style clothing and beaded headbands with feathers - gathered in and around the U.S. District Courthouse in Macon during the hearing.
"All I'm asking is that the court recognize that I am an indigenous person," York told Judge Hugh Lawson. "I am a Moorish Cherokee and I cannot get a fair trial if I am being tried by settlers or confederates."
The hearing Monday also gave the defense the opportunity to raise two new issues. York's attorneys asked the judge to grant a psychological evaluation to determine if York is competent; and, presuming York does withdraw his guilty plea, they asked that the trial be moved.
Lawson, who last week rejected York's plea on the grounds that the recommended sentence did not fit the crimes, did not rule on either issue Monday.
The U.S. Attorney's office also announced it plans to re-indict York to add a "forfeiture charge" which might allow the government to seize the 476-acre Putnam County compound that York claims is a "sovereign nation."
York said according to supposed treaties between the government of the United States and his tribe, it is his "inalienable right to be tried by my own people."
York presented documents purportedly signed by Gov. Sonny Perdue as proof that his tribe is recognized by the government. A spokeswoman for the governor, Kimberly King, said last week the document bearing Perdue's signature was "fake."
York is the leader of a cult group known as the United Nuwaubian Nation of Moors. The group began in the early 1970s in Brooklyn. Over the years, the group has claimed heritage from or religious links to American Indians, Egyptians, Christians, Jews, Muslims, the Shriners and Freemasons. At one point, the Nuwaubians dressed like cowboys and York claimed to be from outer space.
York has told his followers he is an angel, and he has claimed to be a god.
Though he pleaded guilty in January to state charges of molesting 13 children from his group, many of his followers remain loyal to him. There were approximately 50 Nuwaubians inside the courtroom - some who refused to stand as the judge entered or left the courtroom. Outside, there were dozens of Nuwaubians playing drums and waiting. At one point during the hearing, they could be heard inside the courtroom chanting.
Judge Lawson explained at least twice to York that he was rejecting the plea agreement reached in January by York's attorneys and the U.S. Attorney's Office. Under that plea agreement, York would have spent 15 years in prison.
Lawson said he was rejecting the plea agreement for a number of reasons, among them that York's "post-plea behavior" has not indicated that York has accepted his guilt or considered "the impact of the conduct of the defendant on the victims." Lawson also said the 15-year sentence "does not address the severity of the admitted and alleged conduct of the defendant."
After explaining that York likely would receive a stiffer sentence if he continues with his plea of guilty or if he is convicted by a jury, Lawson asked York if he intended to withdraw his plea.
"In all due respect to your court," York responded, "I'm a sovereign. I'm a Native American."
Ed Garland, the attorney representing York, pleaded with Lawson to reconsider his rejection of the 15-year sentence. Garland also asked the judge to indulge him while he read information apparently about York's sovereignty. Lawson asked if it was something Garland was asserting in York's defense.
"It's not a position that I am making a legal argument about, but I have a client who wants to put on the record his position on certain matters," Garland said.
Lawson also asked York's other attorney, Manny Arora, if he believed there was any validity to the assertions York was making, and Lawson threatened Arora with "serious trouble" if he didn't give a direct answer.
"I don't believe, at this point, there is any legal merit," Arora answered.
York said he was "tortured" and "under duress" when he pleaded guilty, and that he had been told by his attorneys he would go to prison for "thousands of years."
When York pleaded guilty in January, Lawson was required to ask York a series of questions to ensure he was voluntarily entering his plea. York said he was voluntarily pleading.
Arora said York has become unwilling to cooperate with his attorneys.
Lawson said he was "unsettled" as to whether or not he would grant the psychological evaluation and would rule on it later, but the U.S. Attorney's office did not object to changing venue.
Lawson told Garland and Arora to be prepared for trial Aug. 4.
York and his followers moved from New York in 1993 to the farm in Putnam County. Since 1998, the group has been at odds with county officials over zoning and building codes, resulting in several lawsuits.
In May 2002, federal authorities and the local sheriff's office raided the group's compound, took five children into protective custody and arrested York at a Milledgeville grocery store. York was charged with numerous state counts of molesting children and charged federally with transporting children across state lines for the purpose of having sex with them.
Putnam County Sheriff Howard Sills has been at the forefront of the county's zoning battles with the Nuwaubians and was a key participant in the criminal investigation into the child molestation allegations.
Sills said Monday's hearing was "Mr. York being allowed to make a complete mockery of the criminal justice system, and what you saw today was the first round in a three-ring circus in full Indian headdress."
"Less than a year ago (York) was a Jewish Rabbi," Sills said, "and today they were all dressed like Indians again."
York getting a lot of jail mail
The Macon Telegraph
March 2, 2003
By Rob Peecher
Gray -- Cult leader Malachi York remains popular among at least some of his followers a month after pleading guilty to 75 counts of child molestation.
York, who pleaded guilty to state and federal charges but has not yet been sentenced by a federal judge, is waiting in the Jones County jail to be sentenced and taken to a federal prison. In jail, he is receiving significantly more mail than other inmates.
"He does get a lot of mail," said Jones County Sheriff's Maj. Barbara Burnette. "He gets a pile where the average inmate gets one or two letters a day."
Burnette said York is receiving as many as 20 or 30 letters a day, and some of the envelopes contain money.
"He gets books and stuff people send him - books, cards, letters and money," Burnette said.
Burnette did not release the amount of money York has received since entering the jail Jan. 24, the day he pleaded guilty, but she did say it is far more than any other inmate.
Before pleading guilty, York was in custody at the Putnam County Sheriff's Office where he received fewer letters but still more than average, according to administrative assistant Teresa Slade.
York was in the Putnam County jail Jan. 6-24 when he pleaded guilty and was transferred to Jones County.
In those 18 days, York received money from three or four visitors totaling $230. The money went into an account managed by the sheriff's office through which York could buy a variety of personal items once a week ranging from toothpaste to shaving lotion to candies and snacks.
In his three weeks at the Putnam County jail, York spent a total of $254 in two separate "store-call" purchases.
York is the founder of the United Nuwaubian Nation of Moors, a quasi-religious organization he began in Brooklyn, N.Y., in the early 1970s as an Islamic sect. The group moved to a 476-acre farm in 1993, and York began claiming to be an alien from the planet Rizq.
In recent years the Nuwaubians have adopted ancient Egyptian themes, building pyramids and other Egyptian-style structures on its compound.
York was arrested on federal warrants in May and was subsequently indicted by a Putnam County grand jury in a 208-count indictment. In January, York pleaded guilty to two federal charges - one of financial fraud and another of transporting children across state lines for sexual purposes. He also pleaded guilty to 77 state counts involving child sexual molestation and two counts of influencing a witness.
York is expected to be sentenced to serve 13 years in a federal prison with his state sentence to run concurrent. He will be 71-years-old when he is eligible for parole.
Four women who were among his followers also face state charges of participating in the child molestation with York.
When he pleaded guilty, he implicated each of the four women in the counts he pleaded guilty to, but the four women remain free on bond and have not been tried yet.
March 2, 2003
By Rob Peecher
Gray -- Cult leader Malachi York remains popular among at least some of his followers a month after pleading guilty to 75 counts of child molestation.
York, who pleaded guilty to state and federal charges but has not yet been sentenced by a federal judge, is waiting in the Jones County jail to be sentenced and taken to a federal prison. In jail, he is receiving significantly more mail than other inmates.
"He does get a lot of mail," said Jones County Sheriff's Maj. Barbara Burnette. "He gets a pile where the average inmate gets one or two letters a day."
Burnette said York is receiving as many as 20 or 30 letters a day, and some of the envelopes contain money.
"He gets books and stuff people send him - books, cards, letters and money," Burnette said.
Burnette did not release the amount of money York has received since entering the jail Jan. 24, the day he pleaded guilty, but she did say it is far more than any other inmate.
Before pleading guilty, York was in custody at the Putnam County Sheriff's Office where he received fewer letters but still more than average, according to administrative assistant Teresa Slade.
York was in the Putnam County jail Jan. 6-24 when he pleaded guilty and was transferred to Jones County.
In those 18 days, York received money from three or four visitors totaling $230. The money went into an account managed by the sheriff's office through which York could buy a variety of personal items once a week ranging from toothpaste to shaving lotion to candies and snacks.
In his three weeks at the Putnam County jail, York spent a total of $254 in two separate "store-call" purchases.
York is the founder of the United Nuwaubian Nation of Moors, a quasi-religious organization he began in Brooklyn, N.Y., in the early 1970s as an Islamic sect. The group moved to a 476-acre farm in 1993, and York began claiming to be an alien from the planet Rizq.
In recent years the Nuwaubians have adopted ancient Egyptian themes, building pyramids and other Egyptian-style structures on its compound.
York was arrested on federal warrants in May and was subsequently indicted by a Putnam County grand jury in a 208-count indictment. In January, York pleaded guilty to two federal charges - one of financial fraud and another of transporting children across state lines for sexual purposes. He also pleaded guilty to 77 state counts involving child sexual molestation and two counts of influencing a witness.
York is expected to be sentenced to serve 13 years in a federal prison with his state sentence to run concurrent. He will be 71-years-old when he is eligible for parole.
Four women who were among his followers also face state charges of participating in the child molestation with York.
When he pleaded guilty, he implicated each of the four women in the counts he pleaded guilty to, but the four women remain free on bond and have not been tried yet.
July 16, 2009
Lawyers argue details in York case
The Telegraph
January 18, 2003
By Rob Peecher
Eatonton -- With just more than a week to go before Nuwaubian sect leader Malachi York stands trial for sexually abusing 13 children, a Superior Court judge is still considering one issue key to the prosecution.
The judge said he will rule next week on whether to allow evidence seized from York's home shortly after his arrest last May.
York, who was scheduled to be tried with co-defendant Kathy Johnson, may stand trial alone. Before Ocmulgee Judicial Circuit Superior Court Judge William A. Prior began hearing final pre-trial motions Friday, Johnson's attorney Brian Steele announced his intention to appeal one of Prior's Thursday rulings.
Steele had filed a motion asking the judge to set Johnson free because, he argued, the prosecution's time to get her to trial under his speedy trial demand had expired. Prior, though, ruled that the speedy trial demand gives the prosecution until March 17 to try her.
Steele said he will appeal the ruling to the Georgia Court of Appeals, which effectively takes Johnson out of Prior's jurisdiction until the appellate court issues a ruling.
Unless that ruling comes before the trial begins Jan. 28, York will stand trial alone.
York is the head of the United Nuwaubian Nation of Moors, a predominately black fraternal organization that moved to Putnam County a decade ago. Last year, federal and local officers raided the group's 476-acre Putnam County village to serve state and federal search warrants.
Just before the raid, York was arrested in Milledgeville and taken into federal custody. He faces four federal counts of allegedly transporting minors across state lines for the purpose of having sex with them. He faces 197 counts in a state indictment accusing him of sexually abusing children. The children are all former members of his group.
Johnson and three other women were indicted with York on the state charges - each woman facing significantly fewer charges than York. Prior agreed last month to sever the other three women as co-defendants, requiring the state to try them separately, but he denied a similar motion from Johnson.
As the hearing Friday was nearing an end, York - who wore a red fez with a black tassle - stood up and repeated a statement he made Thursday in court that he is "secured" and does not give permission to use his name.
"If you proceed it will cost you $500,000," York said.
He also said "all deals are off" if Prior continues to use his name.
Though York's attorney Ed Garland said he had nothing to say regarding York's statement, York was referring to "common law" practices the Nuwaubians have used in the past. Common law courts are not legally binding and are typically associated with anti-government militias in the Midwest.
During the hearing, Nuwaubians gave members of the media a "copyright notice" that purports to provide notice that York has copyrighted his name and aliases and the document threatens certain financial penalties for "unauthorized" use of his name. The documents were stamped: "Received, Jan. 08, 2003" by the "Clerk of Federal Moorish Cherokee Consular Court, USA."
Also Friday, Prior denied bond for York, even though a former elementary school principal and two Macon police officers testified on his behalf.
Prior also said he will allow the prosecution to use testimony regarding the child molestation, which amounts to 64 similar transactions. According to assistant district attorney Dawn Baskin, this testimony will come from adults who say they were sexually abused by York while they were children, people who "solicited" sex from children and adults on York's behalf, and from adults who participated in group sex acts with York similar to group sex acts the prosecution alleges York participated in with children.
York's attorney Manny Aurora said that with 197 counts against his client, the prosecution didn't need 64 more.
"They've got 197 counts - let's fight over those," Aurora said.
Prior also said he would allow the defense to put up York's followers as witnesses who can testify that they lived at the village and were not molested. Baskin argued against it, but Aurora said the prosecution only wants to "let in all the bad stuff."
"That's our whole defense," Aurora said.
January 18, 2003
By Rob Peecher
Eatonton -- With just more than a week to go before Nuwaubian sect leader Malachi York stands trial for sexually abusing 13 children, a Superior Court judge is still considering one issue key to the prosecution.
The judge said he will rule next week on whether to allow evidence seized from York's home shortly after his arrest last May.
York, who was scheduled to be tried with co-defendant Kathy Johnson, may stand trial alone. Before Ocmulgee Judicial Circuit Superior Court Judge William A. Prior began hearing final pre-trial motions Friday, Johnson's attorney Brian Steele announced his intention to appeal one of Prior's Thursday rulings.
Steele had filed a motion asking the judge to set Johnson free because, he argued, the prosecution's time to get her to trial under his speedy trial demand had expired. Prior, though, ruled that the speedy trial demand gives the prosecution until March 17 to try her.
Steele said he will appeal the ruling to the Georgia Court of Appeals, which effectively takes Johnson out of Prior's jurisdiction until the appellate court issues a ruling.
Unless that ruling comes before the trial begins Jan. 28, York will stand trial alone.
York is the head of the United Nuwaubian Nation of Moors, a predominately black fraternal organization that moved to Putnam County a decade ago. Last year, federal and local officers raided the group's 476-acre Putnam County village to serve state and federal search warrants.
Just before the raid, York was arrested in Milledgeville and taken into federal custody. He faces four federal counts of allegedly transporting minors across state lines for the purpose of having sex with them. He faces 197 counts in a state indictment accusing him of sexually abusing children. The children are all former members of his group.
Johnson and three other women were indicted with York on the state charges - each woman facing significantly fewer charges than York. Prior agreed last month to sever the other three women as co-defendants, requiring the state to try them separately, but he denied a similar motion from Johnson.
As the hearing Friday was nearing an end, York - who wore a red fez with a black tassle - stood up and repeated a statement he made Thursday in court that he is "secured" and does not give permission to use his name.
"If you proceed it will cost you $500,000," York said.
He also said "all deals are off" if Prior continues to use his name.
Though York's attorney Ed Garland said he had nothing to say regarding York's statement, York was referring to "common law" practices the Nuwaubians have used in the past. Common law courts are not legally binding and are typically associated with anti-government militias in the Midwest.
During the hearing, Nuwaubians gave members of the media a "copyright notice" that purports to provide notice that York has copyrighted his name and aliases and the document threatens certain financial penalties for "unauthorized" use of his name. The documents were stamped: "Received, Jan. 08, 2003" by the "Clerk of Federal Moorish Cherokee Consular Court, USA."
Also Friday, Prior denied bond for York, even though a former elementary school principal and two Macon police officers testified on his behalf.
Prior also said he will allow the prosecution to use testimony regarding the child molestation, which amounts to 64 similar transactions. According to assistant district attorney Dawn Baskin, this testimony will come from adults who say they were sexually abused by York while they were children, people who "solicited" sex from children and adults on York's behalf, and from adults who participated in group sex acts with York similar to group sex acts the prosecution alleges York participated in with children.
York's attorney Manny Aurora said that with 197 counts against his client, the prosecution didn't need 64 more.
"They've got 197 counts - let's fight over those," Aurora said.
Prior also said he would allow the defense to put up York's followers as witnesses who can testify that they lived at the village and were not molested. Baskin argued against it, but Aurora said the prosecution only wants to "let in all the bad stuff."
"That's our whole defense," Aurora said.
Judge turns down Nuwaubian leader's motions
York's trial to begin Jan. 28 in Covington
Macon Telegraph
January 17, 2003
By Rob Peecher
Eatonton -- A Superior Court judge Thursday denied a series of motions from Malachi York to again move the United Nuwaubian Nation of Moors leader's trial, to postpone the trial and to allow defense psychiatrists to interview the prosecution's witnesses.
York faces nearly 200 charges of molesting children. Co-defendant Kathy Johnson - referred to by York's followers as his "main wife" - is charged with 12 counts of molesting children.
Ocmulgee Circuit Superior Court Judge William A. Prior will resume hearing motions this morning. The trial is scheduled to begin Jan. 28 in Covington.
Among the motions denied Thursday by Prior was one to dismiss Johnson from the case because the prosecution failed to hold her trial within a set amount of time.
Johnson's attorney, Brian Steele, filed a demand for a speedy trial Sept. 5 - in the June term of court - giving the prosecution two terms of court in which to hold the trial. Steele argued that because jurors in the June term were never dismissed by a judge's order, the demand for speedy trial began running immediately, even though there were only 10 days left in that term.
"Unless there's an order stating these jurors are excused and dismissed, they are subject to recall," Steele said.
Putnam County Clerk of Court Sheila Layson testified that in the June term of court, she had notified jurors through a telephone recording that they did not need to show up for court, but no judge had issued an order dismissing them.
District Attorney Fred Bright argued that the jurors were not impaneled because Layson had notified them not to show up for court because no more trials were scheduled. Layson testified that a Superior Court judge had told her to notify the jurors not to show up.
Steele's argument was impassioned, and he was adamant that he was correct in his interpretation of the law.
"I understand the law," Steele told Prior. "I read every statute that comes out. É It's my passion. I understand I look strange saying acquit Mrs. Johnson based on a piece of paper that I filed, but that is the law."
Steele said he would appeal Prior's decision.
Prior also took under advisement a motion to suppress evidence seized from York's home in the village during a search on May 8.
Before Thursday's hearing got under way, Prior referred to the defense motions as "York's motions." York then stood up and said, "I am secured and do not give permission for anybody to use my name."
Though York's attorney said he had "no comment" on his client's statement, York was referring to "common law" practices the Nuwaubians have used in the past. Common law courts are not legally binding and are typically associated with anti-government militias in Ohio and other parts of the Midwest. In 1999, a common law adherent, Everett Stout, advised Nuwaubians on how to deal with problems the group was having over zoning and building issues.
Prior took under advisement a motion from the defense to limit the number of investigators allowed to sit at the prosecution's table during the trial.
Manny Aurora, one of York's attorneys, argued the presence of the law enforcement personnel would make witnesses feel "intimidated and uncomfortable," but assistant district attorney Dawn Baskin said the investigators are instrumental for the prosecution in presenting its case.
Baskin is asking that Putnam County Sheriff Howard Sills and one of his detectives, an FBI agent and the DA's investigator be allowed to stay in the courtroom, even though they all may be called to testify.
The United Nuwaubian Nation of Moors is a predominately black group that refers to York as "the Master Teacher." It began as an Islamic sect in the early 1970s in Brooklyn, N.Y., but when York and his followers moved to Putnam County 10 years ago, the group claimed York was an extra-terrestrial. The group built pyramids and other ancient Egyptian-style structures on the 476-acre village in western Putnam County, and for nearly six years has been at odds with county officials over building and zoning issues.
In May, authorities arrested York and raided the group's village after several former members came forward with allegations of child molestation.
Macon Telegraph
January 17, 2003
By Rob Peecher
Eatonton -- A Superior Court judge Thursday denied a series of motions from Malachi York to again move the United Nuwaubian Nation of Moors leader's trial, to postpone the trial and to allow defense psychiatrists to interview the prosecution's witnesses.
York faces nearly 200 charges of molesting children. Co-defendant Kathy Johnson - referred to by York's followers as his "main wife" - is charged with 12 counts of molesting children.
Ocmulgee Circuit Superior Court Judge William A. Prior will resume hearing motions this morning. The trial is scheduled to begin Jan. 28 in Covington.
Among the motions denied Thursday by Prior was one to dismiss Johnson from the case because the prosecution failed to hold her trial within a set amount of time.
Johnson's attorney, Brian Steele, filed a demand for a speedy trial Sept. 5 - in the June term of court - giving the prosecution two terms of court in which to hold the trial. Steele argued that because jurors in the June term were never dismissed by a judge's order, the demand for speedy trial began running immediately, even though there were only 10 days left in that term.
"Unless there's an order stating these jurors are excused and dismissed, they are subject to recall," Steele said.
Putnam County Clerk of Court Sheila Layson testified that in the June term of court, she had notified jurors through a telephone recording that they did not need to show up for court, but no judge had issued an order dismissing them.
District Attorney Fred Bright argued that the jurors were not impaneled because Layson had notified them not to show up for court because no more trials were scheduled. Layson testified that a Superior Court judge had told her to notify the jurors not to show up.
Steele's argument was impassioned, and he was adamant that he was correct in his interpretation of the law.
"I understand the law," Steele told Prior. "I read every statute that comes out. É It's my passion. I understand I look strange saying acquit Mrs. Johnson based on a piece of paper that I filed, but that is the law."
Steele said he would appeal Prior's decision.
Prior also took under advisement a motion to suppress evidence seized from York's home in the village during a search on May 8.
Before Thursday's hearing got under way, Prior referred to the defense motions as "York's motions." York then stood up and said, "I am secured and do not give permission for anybody to use my name."
Though York's attorney said he had "no comment" on his client's statement, York was referring to "common law" practices the Nuwaubians have used in the past. Common law courts are not legally binding and are typically associated with anti-government militias in Ohio and other parts of the Midwest. In 1999, a common law adherent, Everett Stout, advised Nuwaubians on how to deal with problems the group was having over zoning and building issues.
Prior took under advisement a motion from the defense to limit the number of investigators allowed to sit at the prosecution's table during the trial.
Manny Aurora, one of York's attorneys, argued the presence of the law enforcement personnel would make witnesses feel "intimidated and uncomfortable," but assistant district attorney Dawn Baskin said the investigators are instrumental for the prosecution in presenting its case.
Baskin is asking that Putnam County Sheriff Howard Sills and one of his detectives, an FBI agent and the DA's investigator be allowed to stay in the courtroom, even though they all may be called to testify.
The United Nuwaubian Nation of Moors is a predominately black group that refers to York as "the Master Teacher." It began as an Islamic sect in the early 1970s in Brooklyn, N.Y., but when York and his followers moved to Putnam County 10 years ago, the group claimed York was an extra-terrestrial. The group built pyramids and other ancient Egyptian-style structures on the 476-acre village in western Putnam County, and for nearly six years has been at odds with county officials over building and zoning issues.
In May, authorities arrested York and raided the group's village after several former members came forward with allegations of child molestation.
Nuwaubians distribute fliers in Newton County
Leaflets contain information on case against Malachi York
Macon Telegraph
December, 27, 2002
By Rob Peecher
Covington -- Though Malachi York's trial was moved to Newton County because of pre-trial publicity, some of his followers are trying to get their view of the case to potential jurors before the trial.
Since Ocmulgee Judicial Circuit Superior Court Judge William A. Prior announced four weeks ago that he was moving the trial to Newton County, Nuwaubians have been handing out fliers and leaving tabloid newspapers on car windshields in downtown Covington and at area shopping centers.
The fliers contain information and opinions mostly about Putnam County Sheriff Howard Sills and the case against York, the leader of the United Nuwaubian Nation of Moors. York, who was arrested in May by the FBI, is charged in a 208-count state indictment with sexually abusing children.
District Attorney Fred Bright, who is prosecuting York and the woman referred to as his "main wife," Kathy Johnson, said the flier and newspaper appear to be intended to sway potential jurors.
Macon Telegraph
December, 27, 2002
By Rob Peecher
Covington -- Though Malachi York's trial was moved to Newton County because of pre-trial publicity, some of his followers are trying to get their view of the case to potential jurors before the trial.
Since Ocmulgee Judicial Circuit Superior Court Judge William A. Prior announced four weeks ago that he was moving the trial to Newton County, Nuwaubians have been handing out fliers and leaving tabloid newspapers on car windshields in downtown Covington and at area shopping centers.
The fliers contain information and opinions mostly about Putnam County Sheriff Howard Sills and the case against York, the leader of the United Nuwaubian Nation of Moors. York, who was arrested in May by the FBI, is charged in a 208-count state indictment with sexually abusing children.
District Attorney Fred Bright, who is prosecuting York and the woman referred to as his "main wife," Kathy Johnson, said the flier and newspaper appear to be intended to sway potential jurors.
Charges Facing Defendants
Macon Telegraph
October 26, 2002
By Rob Peecher
Nuwaubian leader Malachi York and the woman his followers refer to as his "main wife" were arrested on federal warrants May 8 just before sheriff's deputies and agents with the FBI raided the Nuwaubian village. Within a week, York, Kathy Johnson and the other defendants were indicted in a 116-count state indictment alleging child sex crimes. Earlier this month, York and the other defendants were re-indicted by the state.
The new indictment charges York with 120 counts of child molestation, 50 counts of aggravated child molestation, 13 counts of enticing a child for indecent purposes, one count of rape, two counts of influencing a witness, two counts of sexual exploitation of a minor and nine counts of statutory rape.
The new state indictment charges Johnson with 10 counts of child molestation and two counts of aggravated child molestation. Chandra Lampkin faces three counts of child molestation and two counts of aggravated child molestation. Khadijah Merritt faces eight counts of child molestation and three counts of aggravated child molestation. Isityr Cole faces one count of child molestation, and is the only defendant free on bond.
Federally, York faces four counts of transporting minors across state lines for the purpose of sex. Johnson also is named in one of those counts.
October 26, 2002
By Rob Peecher
Nuwaubian leader Malachi York and the woman his followers refer to as his "main wife" were arrested on federal warrants May 8 just before sheriff's deputies and agents with the FBI raided the Nuwaubian village. Within a week, York, Kathy Johnson and the other defendants were indicted in a 116-count state indictment alleging child sex crimes. Earlier this month, York and the other defendants were re-indicted by the state.
The new indictment charges York with 120 counts of child molestation, 50 counts of aggravated child molestation, 13 counts of enticing a child for indecent purposes, one count of rape, two counts of influencing a witness, two counts of sexual exploitation of a minor and nine counts of statutory rape.
The new state indictment charges Johnson with 10 counts of child molestation and two counts of aggravated child molestation. Chandra Lampkin faces three counts of child molestation and two counts of aggravated child molestation. Khadijah Merritt faces eight counts of child molestation and three counts of aggravated child molestation. Isityr Cole faces one count of child molestation, and is the only defendant free on bond.
Federally, York faces four counts of transporting minors across state lines for the purpose of sex. Johnson also is named in one of those counts.
York's accusers describe years of sexual abuse
Nuwaubian leader promised 'ritual' would ensure eternal life, teen says
Macon Telegraph
September 1, 2002
By Rob Peecher
Eatonton -- He says he'll never forget the day the sexual abuse began. It was nine years ago, on his seventh birthday.
He was living in upstate New York at a camp run by Malachi York, leader of a religious sect now called the United Nuwaubian Nation of Moors. He says York and a woman named Chandra Lampkin showed him a cartoon porn video, and Lampkin touched the boy's private parts. York was naked from the waist down.
The boy's older sister, now 18, claims York began abusing her when she was 8. York told her that having sex with him was a religious ritual, she says, a "great secret" that she should never reveal.
"If we do that, we would go to heaven with the angels and we would never die," she says York told her.
The brother and sister account for more than half of the 116 sexual child abuse charges in a state indictment issued May 14 against York, Lampkin and other members of the group. York also faces federal charges in the case.
The two children and their mother joined York's group in Brooklyn, N.Y., in 1986, when it was called the Ansaru Allah Community, and followed York to Georgia in 1993. The mother thought she was joining a disciplined Islamic sect that would protect her kids from drugs and gangs. She says she knew nothing about the sexual abuse until late 2000.
"I had no idea," she says. "My main objective of going there was for the safety of my children, not knowing I'm walking them into the lion's den of a pedophiler. That never crossed my mind."
These and other former members of the Nuwaubian sect have painted a detailed and bizarre picture of life inside the group. Among their allegations:
"The group separated children from their parents, allowing visits only once a week. Children slept on floors and ate little, at times crammed 30 to a trailer. They were denied schooling. They were beaten, sometimes with boards, for small infractions.
"Despite his followers' living conditions, York lived in luxury just a few feet away. One of his houses had an indoor swimming pool and a recording studio.
"The group's activities generated large amounts of cash. When York was arrested, he was carrying $10,000, and investigators found another $400,000 at the group's properties in Athens and Putnam County. The annual Savior's Day festival, a weeklong celebration of York's birthday, brought in $500,000, according to one of his sons.
"York controlled the sexual behavior of the group's members, deciding when husbands and wives could have sex. York had sex with anyone he wanted, whenever he wanted to, former followers say. Investigators say he appears to have at least 100 offspring.
York has pleaded not guilty to the federal charges and has not been arraigned on the state charges. His lawyer, Ed Garland of Atlanta, declined comment, saying he still is investigating the case.
York's supporters, among them state Rep. Tyrone Brooks, D-Atlanta, have claimed the allegations are false, accusing law enforcement officials of targeting York because of his race and beliefs.
A year before York's arrest, one of his children, an adult son, was instrumental in leading authorities to his father's alleged victims. Once a member of the group, the son broke away and now works to help other York followers get out of the group.
"He is not a savior," his son says. "The only savior's day is the day you walk out of that place. That's the only day you save yourself."
York gets his start
Saadik Redd became one of York's followers in 1970. Redd had just converted to Islam. York was launching a career as a spiritual leader by forming the Nubian Islamic Hebrews in Brooklyn.
Redd says he rapidly gained York's trust. For eight years he served as York's driver. He was there as the group flourished in Brooklyn's Bushwick Avenue neighborhood.
York's group has gone through frequent incarnations. He changed its name to the Ansaru Allah Community, but it still centered on Islam. Redd traveled with York to Trinidad to establish a branch of the group, and in 1978, Redd set up branches in Baltimore and Washington.
Redd was one of York's most ardent believers, even though he claims he overheard York planning to dupe his followers with false theology.
"The ultimate success of a con man is to make the person who's being conned make excuses for the con man," Redd says. "If I can get you to deny reality, then I have in fact controlled your mind."
By the late 1970s, Redd says, he grew frustrated with York and his teachings. In 1981, he left the group when his brother convinced him that York was not teaching "true Islam."
York had between 2,000 and 3,000 followers in the 1970s, according to Redd. The group occupied as many as 30 buildings in the Bushwick Avenue neighborhood. York had a recording studio, and Redd says York used his image to attract followers.
"He dressed slick. The whole image thing was going for him. So a lot of the street people looked up to him. And a lot of the up-and-coming rappers looked up to him because he had a musical studio," Redd says.
Redd sometimes lived in the "barracks" with other men. It was like living in an abandoned house - no heat, no hot water, no beds. More often he lived in York's house, where conditions were "totally opposite from how the people lived," Redd says.
He says the group's only real purpose was to feed its leader's ego. York often bragged about his sexual conquests, he says.
"Whatever he wants, he gets, literally," Redd says. "He wants control. He just wants to dominate. He would meet a person and their wife, and sleep with their wife just to show that he had control over you."
Several years after he left the group, Redd says, he cooperated with the FBI in New York and provided information about alleged criminal activity within the group.
Redd's name appears in a 1993 FBI report as having traveled with York to Trinidad. The report also cites unnamed former members of the group as informants who accuse York's followers of crimes such as arson, bank robbery, weapons stockpiling and murder.
The report recommends a "full domestic security/terrorism investigation" of the group, but that doesn't appear to have happened. The report was issued around the time York and his followers moved to Georgia. It was forwarded to the FBI Atlanta office, where agents monitored York for a short time after the move, according to Georgia Bureau of Investigation documents.
'Just a messed up life'
Two years before Redd left the group, in 1979, a 9-year-old girl and her mother moved into its Brooklyn neighborhood.
The girl is now 32, and though she says she was never sexually abused, she describes her life in York's sect as brutal and impoverished. The woman asked not to be identified, saying she fears for her safety.
"I was taken away from my mother," she says. "She had nothing to do with us. We could only see our parents on Fridays because Fridays was the day we'd do a special prayer."
For a brief period, she says, government officials forced York to put all of the children into school, but other than that she never attended public school after joining the group. She went to what was called "Muslim class" and was taught some Arabic.
Children lived together according to age and gender.
As punishment, the girls were sometimes beaten on their hands and feet with lumber - what she described as "thick wood, like when you're building a building."
For nine years she never slept on a bed.
"We slept on floors. We had to eat with our hands. We ate what (York) wanted us to eat. ... It's just a messed up life he caused me to go through."
She says she was among a group of girls raised as virgins who were to marry men from the Sudan. But she was thrown out of the group when she turned 18, she says, because York accused her of conspiring to leave. Fourteen years later, she has been unable to straighten out her life.
"What's so bad about it is that when I was put out in this world, as (York) says, it's like I was lost," the woman says. "I didn't know the reality of this world because we was always taken care of. We didn't have to cook. Our clothes was made for us. The only thing we was taught is how to take care of family, how to take care of your husband and how to take care of babies.
The men went out peddling everyday, she says, selling oils, trinkets and York's literature on the street. She believes that was how York made most of his money.
She says York rewarded the men who brought in the most money by allowing them to have sex with their wives. But York had sex, or as the woman called it, "have intimate," with whomever he chose.
She says it took her a long time to stop believing that York was an angel, and she was left with no religious beliefs.
"I'm mad that he didn't teach us ... nothing about getting a job and going to school. ... If we wanted to go to school, we got put out (of the group). We couldn't go to school out here (away from York's community). He said it was the devil's school."
She says her mother and siblings remain in the group. She sought help at a mental hospital in New Jersey after she was kicked out. The people there felt sorry for her, she says, but offered no help.
"I struggle every day and just shake my head. He messed me up."
Camp Jazzir Abba
York's organization had tentacles reaching out to dozens of U.S. cities.
Redd helped establish communities in Baltimore and Washington and the first overseas community in Trinidad. At least one community was formed in England. York's headquarters remained in Brooklyn until about 1983, when York bought an 81-acre camp just outside the town of Liberty in Sullivan County, N.Y.
Every summer, Sullivan County's population grows from about 70,000 to as much as 300,000 as ethnic and religious groups from New York City retreat to the countryside. But for some local officials and neighbors, York's group stood out from other camps in the area.
"Whenever you went there, you were greeted with armed people at the gate and guard dogs," says Pam Winters, the building inspector in Liberty. "We were glad to see them go."
Winters says there were frequent building code and land-use violations at the camp, known as Camp Jazzir Abba. In many respects the problems county officials in New York experienced with York's group mirror problems Putnam County officials have run into.
Winters said the town of Liberty had to take the Ansaru Allah Community to court to force the group to move unpermitted homes off the property.
At the camp were roughly a half-dozen bungalows and an enormous house that York's followers built around a double-wide trailer. The house contained an indoor swimming pool and a recording studio. It is now gutted and falling in.
Patrick Burns, who lives within a mile of the rural camp, says he told his wife to change her jogging habits after seeing armed guards patrolling the camp's perimeter.
"Everybody was paranoid," Burns says.
York and his followers abandoned Camp Jazzir Abba in 1993 when they moved to Georgia. Five years later, Sullivan County took the property because York and a co-owner failed to pay taxes for several years.
When the group moved south, the Ansaru Allah Community became the United Nuwaubian Nation of Moors.
When the trouble with building codes began in Putnam County, York moved to an apartment in Athens, then bought a house in an upscale neighborhood off Timothy Road. York's followers, who in Putnam County live in crowded trailers, refer to the house as "the mansion."
In New York, the group was perceived by outsiders to be an Islamic sect. In Georgia, the group's literature claimed that York was from another planet.
Brother, sister speak out
The brother and sister who claim York molested them joined the group with their older sister and mother in October 1986. The boy was almost a year old, and his sister was 2. They are now 16 and 18.
The mother says her daughters were separated and housed with other girls their ages, but initially her son lived with her. She cared for girls of different ages at first. Then she did office work, first translating York's books into Spanish and then working on the group's mail-order marketing. She says she was never paid for any of these jobs.
She knew her children's living conditions were poor, that they slept on floors and ate inadequate meals. But she says she expected to make sacrifices before things got better.
The family moved to Putnam County in 1993. Living conditions in the village were no better than in New York.
"(York) lived in a nice house, and everybody else, they lived in broken down homes," says the sister who is now 18 and named in the indictment as one of York's victims. "They had a girls' house. That's where all the girls lived. The sink was falling through the floor. We had holes all over the floor, and one time some girl fell through the shower."
In the three-bedroom double-wide trailer where she lived, she says, there were as many as 30 girls and one or two adult women.
Her brother lived in a barn with male members of the group.
The children say they worked constantly, painting or building the pyramids and other Egyptian-style structures on the Nuwaubian compound. The 18-year-old describes punishments similar to those experienced by the woman who grew up with the group in Brooklyn.
"Say somebody broke a vase or something and one of the girls don't want to fess up and say they did it," she says. "So everybody in the whole group would get a beating from the lady who was watching us. Sometimes they'd beat you on the hand, sometimes they beat you on the feet with a ruler or a hairbrush, a wooden hairbrush. As you get older, they started beating you with boards and extension cords."
She says living conditions always grew worse in early summer when the Nuwaubians prepared for Savior's Day.
"That's the time we was basically scraping for food, because they would cut down our food budget because (York) was always trying to get money to pay for the books so he could sell them on Savior's Day. So we basically would be eating bread and water," she says.
The brother and sister, two of the five victims named in the indictment, say the sexual abuse started just before the move to Georgia and continued about once a week for six years. The indictment accuses York of having sex with victims, having sex with children or adults in the victims' presence, and watching while the victims had sex with each other or adults.
The brother and sister say their abuse ended about the time York moved to Athens in 1999.
Their mother moved to Athens with York. She says she has two younger daughters, both fathered by York.
By the time York moved back to Putnam County within the past year, the brother and sister had left the group.
In late 2000, the oldest daughter, who is now 27, was kicked out of the group. The now-18-year-old daughter saw her sister's removal as her chance to escape. When her sister came to the Putnam County farm to retrieve some personal items, the younger girl asked her sister to come back for her.
"I told her a spot to come pick me up at, a spot (on the road) up near the woods," the 18-year-old recalls.
She packed her belongings in trash bags, pretended to take out the trash and escaped when her sister drove in front of the Nuwaubian compound.
Their mother says she knew nothing about the sexual abuse until her daughters escaped and told her. She says she felt betrayed by York.
York's son rebels
Also referred to as "family day," Savior's Day generated large amounts of money for York, authorities say. York's son, who led authorities to his father, says the event brought York about $500,000 a year.
Savior's Day typically lasted from four days to a week and, at its height in 1999, drew an estimated 4,000 people from around the world.
Many of those 4,000 were family members on the outside, paying $50 entry fees to see loved ones who were members of the group, says York's son, who spoke on condition of anonymity, citing his fear of retaliation.
Relatives also were charged for food, beds, campground space and numerous other things. During the festival, York also sold incense, oils and books.
"If you pay to get into the function, you're allowed to see your family members," York's son says. "So that's kind of why he had such a huge turnout all those years, was because people were paying ... not to see him or care about what he said, but the majority of people were paying to see family members. That's why this guy was making half a million dollars in just three or four days."
York's son says he saw a videotape of York having sex with a child a number of years ago, but waited before going to authorities. He knew his father had government connections and feared he might be able to quash any investigation.
He says he decided to go to Putnam County Sheriff Howard Sills after seeing some Nuwaubian-produced pamphlets about the sheriff. If the Nuwaubians hated Sills as much as the fliers suggested, the son says, he believed he could trust the sheriff. Sills brought in the FBI.
A year before York's arrest, the son was introducing Sills and federal agents to children later named in the indictment. Others also claimed they had been molested by York, but the cases were so old that the statute of limitations had expired, according to law enforcement sources.
York's son is involved in what he calls a kind of underground railroad to help former members get out of the group and straighten out their lives. He has an e-mail account so members of the group who want out can write him for help.
Since York's arrest some followers have left the group, but many remain. Guards still are posted at the front gate of the village, and York's followers are often seen on the property and out in the community.
York's son says those who remain loyal to York are scared because they have been in the group for so long.
That was true for the mother of the 16- and 18-year-old who say York molested them. Even after hearing her children's accusations, the mother says, she was uncertain of what to do. She had not had a job in 14 years. She had no money, no car, no personal belongings other than some clothes.
She left the group, with her son and two youngest daughters, about a week after learning about the allegations.
The mother says she still has difficulty reconciling the man she believed in for 14 years with the man she now believes molested her children.
"I still can say I have respect for York as a grand master teacher," she says.
Since leaving the group, the 18-year-old has obtained her GED and is now attending college. Her brother, who like his sister never attended school, is now enrolled in high school.
The sister says she believes many of York's loyal followers know that her allegations are true but refuse to admit it.
"They used to see him with children all the time. Children spend the night at his house, and (the followers) just want to be blind and not even see that it really happened. I think they're trying to be blind....
"They're just trying to stick up for him because they wasted their whole life.... There's people 30 to 50 years old, and what are they going to do now?"
Macon Telegraph
September 1, 2002
By Rob Peecher
Eatonton -- He says he'll never forget the day the sexual abuse began. It was nine years ago, on his seventh birthday.
He was living in upstate New York at a camp run by Malachi York, leader of a religious sect now called the United Nuwaubian Nation of Moors. He says York and a woman named Chandra Lampkin showed him a cartoon porn video, and Lampkin touched the boy's private parts. York was naked from the waist down.
The boy's older sister, now 18, claims York began abusing her when she was 8. York told her that having sex with him was a religious ritual, she says, a "great secret" that she should never reveal.
"If we do that, we would go to heaven with the angels and we would never die," she says York told her.
The brother and sister account for more than half of the 116 sexual child abuse charges in a state indictment issued May 14 against York, Lampkin and other members of the group. York also faces federal charges in the case.
The two children and their mother joined York's group in Brooklyn, N.Y., in 1986, when it was called the Ansaru Allah Community, and followed York to Georgia in 1993. The mother thought she was joining a disciplined Islamic sect that would protect her kids from drugs and gangs. She says she knew nothing about the sexual abuse until late 2000.
"I had no idea," she says. "My main objective of going there was for the safety of my children, not knowing I'm walking them into the lion's den of a pedophiler. That never crossed my mind."
These and other former members of the Nuwaubian sect have painted a detailed and bizarre picture of life inside the group. Among their allegations:
"The group separated children from their parents, allowing visits only once a week. Children slept on floors and ate little, at times crammed 30 to a trailer. They were denied schooling. They were beaten, sometimes with boards, for small infractions.
"Despite his followers' living conditions, York lived in luxury just a few feet away. One of his houses had an indoor swimming pool and a recording studio.
"The group's activities generated large amounts of cash. When York was arrested, he was carrying $10,000, and investigators found another $400,000 at the group's properties in Athens and Putnam County. The annual Savior's Day festival, a weeklong celebration of York's birthday, brought in $500,000, according to one of his sons.
"York controlled the sexual behavior of the group's members, deciding when husbands and wives could have sex. York had sex with anyone he wanted, whenever he wanted to, former followers say. Investigators say he appears to have at least 100 offspring.
York has pleaded not guilty to the federal charges and has not been arraigned on the state charges. His lawyer, Ed Garland of Atlanta, declined comment, saying he still is investigating the case.
York's supporters, among them state Rep. Tyrone Brooks, D-Atlanta, have claimed the allegations are false, accusing law enforcement officials of targeting York because of his race and beliefs.
A year before York's arrest, one of his children, an adult son, was instrumental in leading authorities to his father's alleged victims. Once a member of the group, the son broke away and now works to help other York followers get out of the group.
"He is not a savior," his son says. "The only savior's day is the day you walk out of that place. That's the only day you save yourself."
York gets his start
Saadik Redd became one of York's followers in 1970. Redd had just converted to Islam. York was launching a career as a spiritual leader by forming the Nubian Islamic Hebrews in Brooklyn.
Redd says he rapidly gained York's trust. For eight years he served as York's driver. He was there as the group flourished in Brooklyn's Bushwick Avenue neighborhood.
York's group has gone through frequent incarnations. He changed its name to the Ansaru Allah Community, but it still centered on Islam. Redd traveled with York to Trinidad to establish a branch of the group, and in 1978, Redd set up branches in Baltimore and Washington.
Redd was one of York's most ardent believers, even though he claims he overheard York planning to dupe his followers with false theology.
"The ultimate success of a con man is to make the person who's being conned make excuses for the con man," Redd says. "If I can get you to deny reality, then I have in fact controlled your mind."
By the late 1970s, Redd says, he grew frustrated with York and his teachings. In 1981, he left the group when his brother convinced him that York was not teaching "true Islam."
York had between 2,000 and 3,000 followers in the 1970s, according to Redd. The group occupied as many as 30 buildings in the Bushwick Avenue neighborhood. York had a recording studio, and Redd says York used his image to attract followers.
"He dressed slick. The whole image thing was going for him. So a lot of the street people looked up to him. And a lot of the up-and-coming rappers looked up to him because he had a musical studio," Redd says.
Redd sometimes lived in the "barracks" with other men. It was like living in an abandoned house - no heat, no hot water, no beds. More often he lived in York's house, where conditions were "totally opposite from how the people lived," Redd says.
He says the group's only real purpose was to feed its leader's ego. York often bragged about his sexual conquests, he says.
"Whatever he wants, he gets, literally," Redd says. "He wants control. He just wants to dominate. He would meet a person and their wife, and sleep with their wife just to show that he had control over you."
Several years after he left the group, Redd says, he cooperated with the FBI in New York and provided information about alleged criminal activity within the group.
Redd's name appears in a 1993 FBI report as having traveled with York to Trinidad. The report also cites unnamed former members of the group as informants who accuse York's followers of crimes such as arson, bank robbery, weapons stockpiling and murder.
The report recommends a "full domestic security/terrorism investigation" of the group, but that doesn't appear to have happened. The report was issued around the time York and his followers moved to Georgia. It was forwarded to the FBI Atlanta office, where agents monitored York for a short time after the move, according to Georgia Bureau of Investigation documents.
'Just a messed up life'
Two years before Redd left the group, in 1979, a 9-year-old girl and her mother moved into its Brooklyn neighborhood.
The girl is now 32, and though she says she was never sexually abused, she describes her life in York's sect as brutal and impoverished. The woman asked not to be identified, saying she fears for her safety.
"I was taken away from my mother," she says. "She had nothing to do with us. We could only see our parents on Fridays because Fridays was the day we'd do a special prayer."
For a brief period, she says, government officials forced York to put all of the children into school, but other than that she never attended public school after joining the group. She went to what was called "Muslim class" and was taught some Arabic.
Children lived together according to age and gender.
As punishment, the girls were sometimes beaten on their hands and feet with lumber - what she described as "thick wood, like when you're building a building."
For nine years she never slept on a bed.
"We slept on floors. We had to eat with our hands. We ate what (York) wanted us to eat. ... It's just a messed up life he caused me to go through."
She says she was among a group of girls raised as virgins who were to marry men from the Sudan. But she was thrown out of the group when she turned 18, she says, because York accused her of conspiring to leave. Fourteen years later, she has been unable to straighten out her life.
"What's so bad about it is that when I was put out in this world, as (York) says, it's like I was lost," the woman says. "I didn't know the reality of this world because we was always taken care of. We didn't have to cook. Our clothes was made for us. The only thing we was taught is how to take care of family, how to take care of your husband and how to take care of babies.
The men went out peddling everyday, she says, selling oils, trinkets and York's literature on the street. She believes that was how York made most of his money.
She says York rewarded the men who brought in the most money by allowing them to have sex with their wives. But York had sex, or as the woman called it, "have intimate," with whomever he chose.
She says it took her a long time to stop believing that York was an angel, and she was left with no religious beliefs.
"I'm mad that he didn't teach us ... nothing about getting a job and going to school. ... If we wanted to go to school, we got put out (of the group). We couldn't go to school out here (away from York's community). He said it was the devil's school."
She says her mother and siblings remain in the group. She sought help at a mental hospital in New Jersey after she was kicked out. The people there felt sorry for her, she says, but offered no help.
"I struggle every day and just shake my head. He messed me up."
Camp Jazzir Abba
York's organization had tentacles reaching out to dozens of U.S. cities.
Redd helped establish communities in Baltimore and Washington and the first overseas community in Trinidad. At least one community was formed in England. York's headquarters remained in Brooklyn until about 1983, when York bought an 81-acre camp just outside the town of Liberty in Sullivan County, N.Y.
Every summer, Sullivan County's population grows from about 70,000 to as much as 300,000 as ethnic and religious groups from New York City retreat to the countryside. But for some local officials and neighbors, York's group stood out from other camps in the area.
"Whenever you went there, you were greeted with armed people at the gate and guard dogs," says Pam Winters, the building inspector in Liberty. "We were glad to see them go."
Winters says there were frequent building code and land-use violations at the camp, known as Camp Jazzir Abba. In many respects the problems county officials in New York experienced with York's group mirror problems Putnam County officials have run into.
Winters said the town of Liberty had to take the Ansaru Allah Community to court to force the group to move unpermitted homes off the property.
At the camp were roughly a half-dozen bungalows and an enormous house that York's followers built around a double-wide trailer. The house contained an indoor swimming pool and a recording studio. It is now gutted and falling in.
Patrick Burns, who lives within a mile of the rural camp, says he told his wife to change her jogging habits after seeing armed guards patrolling the camp's perimeter.
"Everybody was paranoid," Burns says.
York and his followers abandoned Camp Jazzir Abba in 1993 when they moved to Georgia. Five years later, Sullivan County took the property because York and a co-owner failed to pay taxes for several years.
When the group moved south, the Ansaru Allah Community became the United Nuwaubian Nation of Moors.
When the trouble with building codes began in Putnam County, York moved to an apartment in Athens, then bought a house in an upscale neighborhood off Timothy Road. York's followers, who in Putnam County live in crowded trailers, refer to the house as "the mansion."
In New York, the group was perceived by outsiders to be an Islamic sect. In Georgia, the group's literature claimed that York was from another planet.
Brother, sister speak out
The brother and sister who claim York molested them joined the group with their older sister and mother in October 1986. The boy was almost a year old, and his sister was 2. They are now 16 and 18.
The mother says her daughters were separated and housed with other girls their ages, but initially her son lived with her. She cared for girls of different ages at first. Then she did office work, first translating York's books into Spanish and then working on the group's mail-order marketing. She says she was never paid for any of these jobs.
She knew her children's living conditions were poor, that they slept on floors and ate inadequate meals. But she says she expected to make sacrifices before things got better.
The family moved to Putnam County in 1993. Living conditions in the village were no better than in New York.
"(York) lived in a nice house, and everybody else, they lived in broken down homes," says the sister who is now 18 and named in the indictment as one of York's victims. "They had a girls' house. That's where all the girls lived. The sink was falling through the floor. We had holes all over the floor, and one time some girl fell through the shower."
In the three-bedroom double-wide trailer where she lived, she says, there were as many as 30 girls and one or two adult women.
Her brother lived in a barn with male members of the group.
The children say they worked constantly, painting or building the pyramids and other Egyptian-style structures on the Nuwaubian compound. The 18-year-old describes punishments similar to those experienced by the woman who grew up with the group in Brooklyn.
"Say somebody broke a vase or something and one of the girls don't want to fess up and say they did it," she says. "So everybody in the whole group would get a beating from the lady who was watching us. Sometimes they'd beat you on the hand, sometimes they beat you on the feet with a ruler or a hairbrush, a wooden hairbrush. As you get older, they started beating you with boards and extension cords."
She says living conditions always grew worse in early summer when the Nuwaubians prepared for Savior's Day.
"That's the time we was basically scraping for food, because they would cut down our food budget because (York) was always trying to get money to pay for the books so he could sell them on Savior's Day. So we basically would be eating bread and water," she says.
The brother and sister, two of the five victims named in the indictment, say the sexual abuse started just before the move to Georgia and continued about once a week for six years. The indictment accuses York of having sex with victims, having sex with children or adults in the victims' presence, and watching while the victims had sex with each other or adults.
The brother and sister say their abuse ended about the time York moved to Athens in 1999.
Their mother moved to Athens with York. She says she has two younger daughters, both fathered by York.
By the time York moved back to Putnam County within the past year, the brother and sister had left the group.
In late 2000, the oldest daughter, who is now 27, was kicked out of the group. The now-18-year-old daughter saw her sister's removal as her chance to escape. When her sister came to the Putnam County farm to retrieve some personal items, the younger girl asked her sister to come back for her.
"I told her a spot to come pick me up at, a spot (on the road) up near the woods," the 18-year-old recalls.
She packed her belongings in trash bags, pretended to take out the trash and escaped when her sister drove in front of the Nuwaubian compound.
Their mother says she knew nothing about the sexual abuse until her daughters escaped and told her. She says she felt betrayed by York.
York's son rebels
Also referred to as "family day," Savior's Day generated large amounts of money for York, authorities say. York's son, who led authorities to his father, says the event brought York about $500,000 a year.
Savior's Day typically lasted from four days to a week and, at its height in 1999, drew an estimated 4,000 people from around the world.
Many of those 4,000 were family members on the outside, paying $50 entry fees to see loved ones who were members of the group, says York's son, who spoke on condition of anonymity, citing his fear of retaliation.
Relatives also were charged for food, beds, campground space and numerous other things. During the festival, York also sold incense, oils and books.
"If you pay to get into the function, you're allowed to see your family members," York's son says. "So that's kind of why he had such a huge turnout all those years, was because people were paying ... not to see him or care about what he said, but the majority of people were paying to see family members. That's why this guy was making half a million dollars in just three or four days."
York's son says he saw a videotape of York having sex with a child a number of years ago, but waited before going to authorities. He knew his father had government connections and feared he might be able to quash any investigation.
He says he decided to go to Putnam County Sheriff Howard Sills after seeing some Nuwaubian-produced pamphlets about the sheriff. If the Nuwaubians hated Sills as much as the fliers suggested, the son says, he believed he could trust the sheriff. Sills brought in the FBI.
A year before York's arrest, the son was introducing Sills and federal agents to children later named in the indictment. Others also claimed they had been molested by York, but the cases were so old that the statute of limitations had expired, according to law enforcement sources.
York's son is involved in what he calls a kind of underground railroad to help former members get out of the group and straighten out their lives. He has an e-mail account so members of the group who want out can write him for help.
Since York's arrest some followers have left the group, but many remain. Guards still are posted at the front gate of the village, and York's followers are often seen on the property and out in the community.
York's son says those who remain loyal to York are scared because they have been in the group for so long.
That was true for the mother of the 16- and 18-year-old who say York molested them. Even after hearing her children's accusations, the mother says, she was uncertain of what to do. She had not had a job in 14 years. She had no money, no car, no personal belongings other than some clothes.
She left the group, with her son and two youngest daughters, about a week after learning about the allegations.
The mother says she still has difficulty reconciling the man she believed in for 14 years with the man she now believes molested her children.
"I still can say I have respect for York as a grand master teacher," she says.
Since leaving the group, the 18-year-old has obtained her GED and is now attending college. Her brother, who like his sister never attended school, is now enrolled in high school.
The sister says she believes many of York's loyal followers know that her allegations are true but refuse to admit it.
"They used to see him with children all the time. Children spend the night at his house, and (the followers) just want to be blind and not even see that it really happened. I think they're trying to be blind....
"They're just trying to stick up for him because they wasted their whole life.... There's people 30 to 50 years old, and what are they going to do now?"
Indictments allege more than 100 criminal acts
Macon Telegraph
September 1, 2002
By Rob Peecher
Prior to Malachi York's May 8 arrest in Milledgeville, a federal grand jury had indicted him and Kathy Johnson for taking children across state lines for the purpose of having sex with them.
The four-count federal indictment accused both York, 57, and Johnson, 33, of moving children from the Sullivan County, N.Y., camp to the compound in Putnam County in March 1993 for the purpose of having sex. Another count accuses York of the same thing in April 1993.
The third and fourth counts charge York with taking children from Georgia to Orlando, Fla., in the spring of 1996 for the purpose of having sex with them. According to testimony given by a federal agent during York's bond hearing, York took the children to Disney World.
Within a week of the arrests, a Putnam County grand jury indicted York on 74 counts of child molestation, 29 counts of aggravated child molestation, four counts of statutory rape, one count of rape, two counts of sexual exploitation of a minor, one count of influencing a witness and five counts of enticing a child for indecent purposes.
The state's 116-count indictment also charges Johnson with four counts of child molestation and one count of aggravated child molestation. Three other women also were charged: Istyir Cole, with one count of child molestation; and Chandra Lampkin and Kadijah Merritt, each with three counts of child molestation and two counts of aggravated child molestation.
York was denied bond by a federal magistrate and remains in federal custody awaiting trial. Johnson was given $75,000 bond by a federal magistrate but denied bond by a Superior Court judge on the state charges. She remains in federal custody. Cole has been released on $25,000 bond, and Lampkin and Merritt are both being held without bond in the Putnam County jail.
When sheriff's deputies and federal agents executed search warrants at the Nuwaubian village the day of York's arrest, they took five children into protective custody. All but one of those children remain in protective custody. The other child was released to a relative not affiliated with York's group.
Four of the five children have tested positive for a sexually transmitted disease.
York has not been charged with any crimes relating to those five children.
Ocmulgee Judicial Circuit District Attorney Fred Bright said a trial date has not been set for York and the women, but he anticipates a jury trial on the state charges sometime in January. York's attorneys have asked that the trial be moved from Putnam County. Bright said he will not oppose a change of venue.
September 1, 2002
By Rob Peecher
Prior to Malachi York's May 8 arrest in Milledgeville, a federal grand jury had indicted him and Kathy Johnson for taking children across state lines for the purpose of having sex with them.
The four-count federal indictment accused both York, 57, and Johnson, 33, of moving children from the Sullivan County, N.Y., camp to the compound in Putnam County in March 1993 for the purpose of having sex. Another count accuses York of the same thing in April 1993.
The third and fourth counts charge York with taking children from Georgia to Orlando, Fla., in the spring of 1996 for the purpose of having sex with them. According to testimony given by a federal agent during York's bond hearing, York took the children to Disney World.
Within a week of the arrests, a Putnam County grand jury indicted York on 74 counts of child molestation, 29 counts of aggravated child molestation, four counts of statutory rape, one count of rape, two counts of sexual exploitation of a minor, one count of influencing a witness and five counts of enticing a child for indecent purposes.
The state's 116-count indictment also charges Johnson with four counts of child molestation and one count of aggravated child molestation. Three other women also were charged: Istyir Cole, with one count of child molestation; and Chandra Lampkin and Kadijah Merritt, each with three counts of child molestation and two counts of aggravated child molestation.
York was denied bond by a federal magistrate and remains in federal custody awaiting trial. Johnson was given $75,000 bond by a federal magistrate but denied bond by a Superior Court judge on the state charges. She remains in federal custody. Cole has been released on $25,000 bond, and Lampkin and Merritt are both being held without bond in the Putnam County jail.
When sheriff's deputies and federal agents executed search warrants at the Nuwaubian village the day of York's arrest, they took five children into protective custody. All but one of those children remain in protective custody. The other child was released to a relative not affiliated with York's group.
Four of the five children have tested positive for a sexually transmitted disease.
York has not been charged with any crimes relating to those five children.
Ocmulgee Judicial Circuit District Attorney Fred Bright said a trial date has not been set for York and the women, but he anticipates a jury trial on the state charges sometime in January. York's attorneys have asked that the trial be moved from Putnam County. Bright said he will not oppose a change of venue.
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