Nuwaubian Nation leader trial may be closed to public

Associated Press/December 19, 2003

Macon, Ga. -- A federal judge may close the child molestation trial of Nuwaubian Nation leader Malachi York to the public because members of his religious sect handed out information about the case while marching in the Brunswick Christmas parade.

The trial is set to begin Jan. 5 in Brunswick. It was moved from Macon because of pretrial publicity.

Judge C. Ashley Royal told lawyers at a Macon hearing this week that he had someone monitoring what people in the Brunswick area were reading about York.

I was extraordinarily unhappy that members of the Nuwaubians went down to (Brunswick) ... and tampered with the jury pool. Whether Mr. York directed this or not makes no difference to me. Its going to make it difficult to pick a jury, he said.

Royal said he has also considered sequestering the jury.

The judge said if the trial is closed to the public, the media will be allowed to attend.

Lawyers said they expect the trial to last three weeks.

Religious Sect Members Could Face Charges For Lying

Associated Press/December 8, 2003

Brunswick -- Members of a religious sect who asked residents for opinions about their jailed leader's molestation case while marching in a city Christmas parade could face charges for lying on an application to participate in the event, a prosecutor says.

United Nuwaubian Nation of Moors members who marched in Saturday's parade told the event organizer when they applied to participate that they were a Mason's group, officials said.

Authorities are considering whether to charge the group members with submitting false information to a government agency, which is a felony, said Brunswick prosecutor Stephen Kelley.

During the parade, Nuwaubians handed out literature and asked spectators about the guilt or innocence of their leader, Malachi York. Mayor Brad Brown, who was in the parade, said a document entitled "Medical Records Don't Lie" contained profanity, and in some cases was given to children.

The Nuwaubian delegation in the parade included depictions of the Egyptian pharaoh Rameses, participants wearing bird and cow masks, and a group of mummies carrying parasols.

The United Nuwaubian Nation of Moors is a group started in New York in the early 1970s.

York who has alternately claimed to be Muslim, Christian, Native American and from another planet moved the group to a 476-acre farm in Putnam County in 1993.

York's trial on federal child molestation charges is set for next month in Brunswick. The case was moved from Macon because of pretrial publicity.

Trial For Sect Leader Moves To Brunswick - Pretrial Publicity Cited In Change

Associated Press/October 30, 2003

Macon, Ga. -- The child molestation trial of Nuwaubian Nation leader Malachi York will be moved to Brunswick because of pretrial publicity, a federal judge announced.

U.S. District Judge Ashley Royal ruled Wednesday that the amount of media coverage in the Macon and Atlanta areas would make it difficult to find an unbiased jury in those areas.

York is the leader of the United Nuwaubian Nation of Moors, a religious sect that moved from New York to a 476-acre farm in Putnam County in 1993.

On May 8, 2002, York, 58, was arrested and charged with both state and federal child sex crimes.

He pleaded guilty to 74 counts of child molestation and other related charges.

He also pleaded guilty to one federal count of transporting children across state lines for sexual purposes in return for a recommendation that he serve 15 years in prison.

But U.S. District Court Judge Hugh Lawson rejected the plea bargain, saying 15 years in prison would be too lenient.

York's attorneys had asked Royal to move the trial to Atlanta, saying that the size of the population would dilute the impact of news reports.

The trial could start as soon as January, although York's lawyers have asked for more time to prepare their defense.

Three accused of scheme to establish Nuwaubian base

Associated Press/October 3, 2003

Decatur, GA -- Three men have been accused of using a DeKalb County real estate scheme to re-establish a base for the United Nuwaubian Nation of Moors sect in middle Georgia.

Police said the men created phony certified checks to try to buy two homes in a subdivision north of Stone Mountain, and one filed a lien against the U.S. Postal Service for $283.9 million.

Their goal, police said, was to raise money to buy land in Bibb County for the Nuwaubians, who lived on a 476-acre compound in Putnam County before their leader was jailed on federal and state child molestation charges last year.

Charged with criminal attempt were Robert C. Dukes, 52, of south Fulton County, and Darius Sampson, 40, and William Carroll, 48, both of Stone Mountain. Carroll was also charged with identity fraud.

Dwight Malachi York, 58, the sects leader, pleaded guilty on Jan. 23 to 74 state counts of child molestation and other related charges. He pleaded guilty in an agreement with prosecutors to a single count of transporting children across state lines for sexual purposes in return for a recommendation he serve 15 years in prison.

On June 25, U.S. District Court Judge Hugh Lawson rejected the plea bargain, saying 15 years in prison would be too lenient. He told attorneys he would agree to a 20-year prison sentence, which prompted the defenses motion for Lawson to recuse himself.

Lawson did and the case must now go to trial.

Alleged victim seeks $1 billion from Nuwaubian leader

Associated Press Athens Banner-Herald
July 18, 2003
By Daniel E. Martin

Attorneys have filed a civil lawsuit against the quasi-religious sect leader of the United Nuwaubian Nation of Moors on behalf on one of his alleged underage victims who claims he sexually molested her.
The suit, filed last year in the U.S. District Court in Athens, seeks $1 billion from confessed child molester Malachi York.
I dont know if I have the words to describe the revulsion I feel at the conduct of Mr. York toward our client, attorney Irwin W. Stolz Jr. told the Athens Banner-Herald in its Thursday editions.
The suit alleges that a female member of the Nuwaubian sect recruited the victim to be apart of the groups inner circle. York then showed the victims a pornographic video and later had sex with her. The alleged actions took place from the time the girl was 11 years old until she was 17.
Stolz said a judge could triple the award damages if a jury rules in favor of his client because he said Yorks actions fall under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act.
York, 58, 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.
His attorney, Manny Arora, declined to comment on the civil suit pending the outcome of the criminal proceedings.

Ex-Sect Leader Rejects Plea, Charges

Associated Press
July 1, 2003

The former leader of the United Nuwaubian Nation of Moors told a federal judge Monday that he was under duress when he entered a guilty plea to child molestation charges in January.
Malachi York, who identified himself as "Chief Black Eagle," asked U.S. District Court Judge Hugh Lawson to turn him over to what he called the Yamassee Native American Government, saying the U.S. government had no jurisdiction over him.
Last week, Lawson rejected a plea agreement involving York, 58, who was the leader of the predominantly black, quasi-religious Nuwaubian group based on a 400-acre farm in Putnam County.
On Jan. 23, he pleaded guilty in federal court to one count of transporting children across state lines for the purpose of illegal sex and to one count of illegally structuring cash transactions. The next day, he pleaded guilty in state court in Putnam County to 77 counts related to child molestation.
As part of the plea bargain, state and federal prosecutors agreed to recommend that York be given a prison sentence that would make him eligible for parole in about 12 years.
Lawson's rejection of the plea means a trial could be necessary.
The two-hour hearing Monday was held to give York a chance to withdraw his guilty plea. The courtroom was full of York's supporters, with almost 300 outside. Many of them wore what appeared to be American Indian-style clothing with beaded headbands and feathers.
Lawson said he would make decisions in the near future on motions by York's lawyers for a change of venue motion and to have a psychological evaluation of the defendant.
"I was under duress," York said of his guilty plea. "I was in a two-man cell -- with rats. After being tortured and being told that I would get 1,000 years, they made it look like a racial issue. I was on the cross.
"I would like to be transferred to members of my tribe," York said.
"All I am asking is that the court recognize that I am an indigenous person," he said. "I am a Moorish Cherokee, and I cannot get a fair trial if I am being tried by settlers or Confederates."

Ga. Religious Sect Founder Pleads Guilty

The Associated Press
January 24, 2003

Macon, GA -- The founder of a religious sect in central Georgia admitted in federal court Thursday to having sex with children in the group and pleaded guilty to two charges.
If the court accepts a plea agreement, Malachi York will serve 15 years in federal prison, followed by three years of supervised release. Sentencing has not been scheduled.
York allegedly transported minors across state lines for sex after the United Nuwaubian Nation of Moors settled in rural Putnam County. He pleaded guilty to one count of unlawful transport of minors for the purpose of engaging in sex acts and a count of trying to evade financial reporting requirements.
York is scheduled to stand trial Tuesday on state charges, but Assistant U.S. Attorney Richard Moultrie Jr. said Thursday that York has reached a similar plea deal with Georgia. A hearing in the state's case has been set for Friday.

Cult leader's child molestation trial set for Jan. 28

Associated Press
January 17, 2003

Eatonton, Ga. -- A religious cult leader facing nearly 200 child molestation charges is scheduled for trial later this month in suburban Atlanta.
Ocmulgee Circuit Superior Court Judge William A. Prior turned down several defense motions Thursday, setting the stage for the trial of Malachi York, leader of the United Nuwaubian Nation of Moors, to begin on Jan. 28 in Covington, southeast of Atlanta.
The trial was moved to metro Atlanta to ensure the case is not tainted by publicity.
The United Nuwaubian Nation of Moors is a predominantly 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 extraterrestrial.
Followers have built pyramids and other ancient Egyptian-style structures at the group's 476-acre village in western Putnam County. For nearly six years, they have 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.
Co-defendant Kathy Johnson, referred to by York's followers as his "main wife," is charged with 12 counts of molesting children.

Judge sets date for trial of Nuwaubian leader

Associated Press
November 26, 2002

Milledgeville -- A judge has set a tentative date for the child molestation trial of Malachi York, leader of the United Nuwaubian Nation of Moors.
Superior Court Judge William A. Prior Tuesday said the trial would be held in Covington or Griffin on January 13.
The trial must be held before the third Monday in March because some of the defendants have filed motions for a speedy trial.
Among the other counties mentioned as possible locations for the trial during a hearing last month were Fulton, Glynn, Bulloch and Chatham.
York and four women are charged in a 208-count state indictment accusing them of sexually abusing children.
An investigation into York 's quasi-religious sect began after police received anonymous tips that York was molesting children in the group.
A May indictment charged him with 120 counts of child molestation and related crimes. That figure almost doubled in October.

FBI: Dozens Molested by Sect Leader

The Associated Press
May 13, 2002
By Kyle Wingfield

Macon, Ga. -- The leader of a religious group molested dozens of children, some as young as 4, at the sect's compound over the past nine years, an FBI agent testified at a bail hearing Monday.
Dwight York, founder of the United Nuwaubian Nation of Moors, and his partner, Kathy Johnson, are seeking bail on federal charges alleging they transported minors across state lines for sex beginning in 1993, the year the group settled in central Georgia.
FBI agent Jalaine Ward testified that three children told her they were forced to perform oral sex and other acts with York, 56, and Johnson, 33.
The children, ages 4, 6 and 8 at the time, were photographed and videotaped engaging in sexual acts and posing in sexually explicit positions, she said.
Ward said witnesses told also investigators that 30 to 35 children ages 4 to 18 were molested. She said York brought some children to the compound from New York. He also took 15 to 20 trips to Disney World in Florida over the past four years, taking minors with him and abusing them there, she said.
The hearing is scheduled to resume Tuesday.
York and Johnson were arrested last Wednesday a few miles from the 476-acre Nuwaubian compound in rural Putnam County. At about the same time, more than 100 officers raided the compound and said they seized at least 30 handguns and rifles.
The United Nuwaubian Nation of Moors is a predominantly black, quasi-religious group. The compound featured six-story pyramids and a large gate bearing Egyptian-style hieroglyphics.
In some Nuwaubian literature, York has been referred to as the group's savior or god and described as an extraterrestrial from the planet ``Rizq.''
More than 100 people lived in the compound but York and Johnson were the only ones arrested.
Ward said children at the compound were separated from their parents at an early age, with visitation dictated by York. He also controlled devotees' money, food and clothing, dictated where they lived and when they could enter and leave the compound. Men and women could not talk or have sex without his permission.
The children who were abused were ``treated more specially than children who weren't involved in sexual activities with York,'' Ward testified.
York faces four counts of sexual exploitation of minors. The maximum penalty for each count is 15 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. Johnson faces one charge.
The Nuwaubians have clashed with Putnam County officials for years over building codes, voter registration and the group's hiring of armed security guards. This is the first time York has been arrested in Georgia, though he served time in New York in the 1960s for assault, resisting arrest and possession of a dangerous weapon, authorities said.

Couple at head of Ga. sect face child-sex charges

Associated Press

May 10, 2002

Eatonton, Ga. -- The founder of a quasi-religious group that lives in a rural compound resembling an ancient Egyptian theme park was arrested yesterday on child sex charges, along with his companion.
More than 100 law enforcement agents raided the 476-acre compound of the United Nuwaubian Nation of Moors. Authorities declined to say what was seized.
Putnam County Sheriff Howard Sills said that 80 to 100 people were on the property and that some tried to flee into the woods. There was no violence, Sills said.
The sect's leader, Dwight York, 56, and his companion, Kathy Johnson, 33, were arrested as they traveled nearby. Authorities said York describes Johnson as his wife, but there is no legal record of their marriage.
They were to appear yesterday in federal court in Macon.
The two were accused of taking minors from a similar commune in Sullivan County, N.Y., to Georgia to have sex in 1993, Sills said. York, also known as Malachi York, also faced federal charges of going from Georgia to Orlando, Fla., to have sex with a minor in 1996.
Conviction for each charge carries a maximum penalty of 15 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.
Sills said local warrants charging York and Johnson with aggravated child molestation would be served if the couple are released from federal custody.
York served three years in a New York jail in the 1960s for assault, resisting arrest, and carrying a concealed weapon.
He and his followers have provoked controversy since he arrived in Georgia in 1993.
County officials have clashed with the predominantly black group over how they use their land and have accused its associates of harassment and intimidation. Nuwaubians have claimed discrimination based on their race and religion.
The Nuwaubians say they are ''true native Americans'' descended from Egypt. About 150 to 200 people live at the compound, which York bought after moving from New York, where the group was known as the Ansaru Allah Community, a segregationist sect that incorporated Muslim traditions. York was then known as Isa Muhammad.
The Nuwaubians have erected two pyramids, a sphinx, numerous Egyptian-style statues, prefabricated houses, and other structures on the property.
When they first appeared in Putnam County, Nuwaubians dressed in cowboy-type garb and said York was an extraterrestrial from the planet Rizq. Some Nuwaubian papers refer to York as the group's savior or god.

Georgia Sect Alarms Neighbors

Associated Press,

July 27, 1999

By Patricia J. Mays

EATONTON, Ga. (AP) - A sect founded by an ex-convict has built two 40-foot pyramids and a giant sphinx amid the pines and red clay of middle Georgia, alarming some with its armed guards and prophecies of deliverance by spaceships from another galaxy.
The sheriff and the sect had an armed confrontation in April when he tried to escort a building inspector onto the property, and tensions are running so high that mediators from the U.S. Justice Department were called in earlier this summer.
The members call themselves the Yamassee Native American Nuwaubians and claim to have created a utopian society on their 476-acre compound of Egyptian-style architecture.
Many people in and around Eatonton - a rural community that was the birthplace of Alice Walker, author of "The Color Purple,'' and Joel Chandler Harris, creator of the Uncle Remus tales - fear the Nuwaubians are similar to Heaven's Gate, the cult whose 39 members committed mass suicide in 1997 in Rancho Santa Fe, Calif., and the People's Temple followers of Jim Jones.
"This group here has a combination of all those schools of thought,'' Sheriff Howard Sills said.
About 100 Nuwaubians live in trailers on the compound. An additional 300 to 400 reside elsewhere in Putnam County. The Nuwaubians, most of whom are black, claim to be descended from the Egyptians and the Yamassees, a tribe of Indians indigenous to this part of Georgia.
Past the armed guards at the compound's entryway, Nile River Road stretches between two rows of statues of Egyptian royalty. A gold pyramid serves as a mini-mall, with a bookstore and clothing store. A labyrinth leads to the black pyramid, which serves as a church. Inside, an Egyptian-like chant hums over speakers 24 hours a day.
The group's lodge houses busts of King Tut and Queen Nefertiti and a glass tomb holding an alien-like creature with a huge head and bulging eyes.
Members say they pay no dues and are free to come and go. And they insist that suicide is not in their plans.
The group's founder, Dwight York, who calls himself Malachi Z. York, served time in New York in the 1960s for assault, resisting arrest and possession of a dangerous weapon.
York has claimed to be from a galaxy called Illyuwn and has said that in 2003 spaceships are going to descend from the sky and pick up a chosen 144,000 people for a rebirth. Most recently, York has referred to himself as Chief Black Eagle, a reincarnated leader of the Yamassee Indians.
"It's a constantly opportunistic evolving ideology,'' the sheriff said. "We've gone from an extraterrestrial to a Christian pastor to an Indian leader with willful and wanton resistance to legal authority time and time again.''
The group's spokeswoman, Renee McDade, and Marshall Chance, who is referred to as the Nuwaubians' leader, distance themselves from the space prophecies of York, who lives on the compound and refuses to give interviews.
"We're all awaiting the coming of the real Messiah,'' Chance said. "We are a biblical people. If it's not in the Bible, then we're not concerned about it.''
The group moved to Georgia in 1993 from New York, where it had operated under other names, including the Ansaru Allah Community. A 1993 FBI report linked that group to a myriad of crimes, including arson and extortion.
Until recently, the Nuwaubians pretty much kept to themselves. Then last year, the county rejected a request to have the property rezoned from agricultural to commercial. Since then, the Nuwaubians have been at odds with county officials.
Shortly after the building inspector was denied access, the sheriff and his deputies tried to enter.
"The armed guards literally stood in front of my car,'' Sills said. "It was obvious to me that this was provocative and they wanted to provoke some sort of armed confrontation, so I decided to leave.''
When the sheriff returned two months later, "we were served with this cockamamie lawsuit that said we'd be fined $5 million if we went onto the property,'' Sills said.
The Nuwaubians said they have met all the permit requirements. "We feel they're trying to impede us from our progress here. It feels like they're trying to put us out of our land,'' Chance said.
Mediators from the Justice Department's Community Dispute Resolution unit were asked to get involved after the Nuwaubians leveled charges of racism against officials in Putnam County, which has about 17,000 people, more than one-third of them black.
"The Nuwaubians felt they were being harassed, the county officials said they were being harassed,'' mediator Ernie Stallworth said. "Everyone was pointing a finger and that has lessened, but I still believe we have work to do.''

Black Sect Pledges To Cooperate

The Associated Press
June 30, 1999

EATONTON, Ga. (AP) - A mostly black religious group whose spiritual leader claims to be an extraterrestrial pledged greater cooperation with anxious neighbors and local authorities.
The United Nuwaubian Nation of Moors, who claim to be descended from Egyptians, occupy a 476-acre tract in Putman County east of Atlanta. After a two-hour meeting on Tuesday, called by a judge hearing a contempt case, group leader Dwight York said he is optimistic he and county offiicials can resolve their disputes over zoning and other matters.
"Peace is made,'' York said to cheers from hundreds of supporters who filled the courtroom or stood in the rain and prayed on the courthouse lawn. Hundreds of law enforcement officers were also on hand, as well as a helicopter and an armored personnel carrier.The Nuwaubians have said their difficulties with the predominantly white county stem from discrimination.The group arrived in 1993 from New York City and has since constructed a 40-foot-high black pyramid with statues of Egyptian gods and goddesses on the grounds.York had been charged with contempt of court after armed guards prevented the sheriff and county building inspector from entering the community to carry out a court order in April. The county had filed several lawsuits accusing the Nuwaubians of violating zoning and building regulations.Hostilities intensified to the point where representatives from the Department of Justice tried to intervene to mediate, and Gov. Roy Barnes called the sheriff for a briefing on the situation.At Tuesday's court hearing, York declined to answer where he lived and invoked his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination. That prompted Judge Hugh Wingfield III to ask everyone but the principals to clear the courtroom."I want to move beyond the contempt hearings and get to the meat of the matter,'' Wingfield said.Ralph Goldberg, one of York's lawyers, said the Nuwaubians would go forward with the permitting process."We agreed to stop attacking each other, and, for lack of a better word, we aired some concerns,'' he said.Wingfield did not rule on the contempt charge against York.York has claimed he's from another galaxy and promises that ships are going to descend from the sky in the year 2003 to pick up a chosen 144,000 people for rebirth as supreme beings.Such predictions about spacecraft remind some of the group's neighbors of the Heaven's Gate sect in Rancho Santa Fe, Calif., who committed mass suicide in 1997.