header image

[Sign Up Now] to Receive Our FREE Daily SCVTV-SCVNews Digest by E-Mail

Inside
Weather


 
Calendar
Today in
S.C.V. History
January 15
1875 - Henry Mayo Newhall buys western half of the Santa Clarita Valley for $2 an acre [story]
Henry M. Newhall


[KHTS] – A lawyer for victims of Tony Alamo, a former evangelist convicted of taking underage girls across state lines for the purpose of sex, discussed recently how Alamo’s abuse victims could soon receive a portion of the more-than half-billion-dollar judgment against Alamo.

tonyalamoarrestAlamo, who’s known in the federal prison system as Bernie Lazar Hoffman, is 79 years old, and approximately four years into a 175-year prison sentence.

His prison term was the end result a 2008 arrest warrant federal agents executed on several properties reportedly controlled by Alamo’s ministries — including a Santa Clarita Valley lot in Saugus — which are at the heart of a recent court dispute.

“We’ve been litigating the children’s victims claims against Alamo and his related business for about four and a half years,” saidW. David Carter, a Texarkana lawyer with Mercy Carter Tidwell, in a Friday interview.

Carter represents seven victims who were awarded a $525 million settlement in February.

Carter suggested Alamo’s church officials were passing around property deeds to make it harder to collect the court-ordered awards.

“We expect that Twenty First Century is trying to convey the property to other entities — they passed titles around in their group,” he said. “We’ve been able to reach about 25 properties that were held in the name of members.”

alamo_khtsThere are dozens of properties in the church’s name and through the Alamo controlledTwenty First Century Holiness Tabernacle Church, Carter said, but very little of the damages awarded to Alamo’s victims have been paid.

In 2011, two men were awarded $30 million in damages after Alamo ordered them beaten at one of his compounds; in that case, Alamo’s followers declined to attend a May 1 court hearing.

Douglas Brubach, who claimed to own house in Fouke ordered sold, sent a letter to the presiding federal judge to explain why he wouldn’t appear in court, according to a Dallas Fort-Worth NBC affiliate report:

“I do not intend to be on hand for more of the same on the April 30, 2014, hearing,” Brubach’s letter states. “It appears to me our entire congregation has been tried and convicted with Pastor Alamo because we don’t believe he is guilty of all the abominable acts he has been accused of.”

A jury convicted Alamo of taking wives as young as 8 years old, as well as having people beaten and sexually abused at his command.

Alamo’s criminal history has cast doubt on claims Alamo’s made about his property, Carter said.

His two lots in the Santa Clarita Valley — his church site on Sierra Highway, a couple miles north of Rowher Canyon Road, and a 90-acre lot a little more than a mile north of Sand Canyon off Sierra Highway — reportedly could be worth billions, due to a valuable claim of water rights under the land.

The problem is, Carter said, Alamo made the claim in an email to one of his followers, to whom he also claimed his wife would resurrect from the dead.

Alamo reportedly hired some hydrogeology services to evaluate the property, and at one point, proposed to spend $17 million to drill wells, Carter said.

The general manager for the Castaic Lake Water Agency, the region’s state water wholesaler, questions the possibility of such a claim due to a number of factors.

“It’s my opinion that they wouldn’t be able to develop the water supply for export out of the (Santa Clarita Valley),” said Dan Masnada, general manager for the Castaic Lake Water Agency. “That water has already accounted for in the Santa Clarita Valley Urban Water Management Plan.”

In addition to a possible threat litigation threat, there are infrastructure issues making the movement of an amount of water to justify such value “nonsensical,” Masnada said.

“I’ll be the first to tell you Tony Alamo made statements or claims that turned out to be somewhat untrue,” Carter said. “The unresolved question is whether the water supply actually exists.”

The next sale of properties is expected to take place June 12, when the compound Alamo operated in Fouke, Arkansas, goes up for sale.

“That’s where he operated primarily from after his release in 1999 and before the raid in 2008,” Carter said, noting that was where most of the abuse took place.

It could act as a litmus test for how the property sales throughout the country are handled. Carter plans to be able to use the judgment against Alamo as a bid in the sale of the land.

Yet questions on the value remain of several plots remain.

“We’re not sure what access we’re going to have to the property before it’s sold — ideally we’d have the answer to the question (of water rights) before the public sale,” Carter said. “it will probably take a little time.”

Comment On This Story
COMMENT POLICY: We welcome comments from individuals and businesses. All comments are moderated. Comments are subject to rejection if they are vulgar, combative, or in poor taste.
REAL NAMES ONLY: All posters must use their real individual or business name. This applies equally to Twitter account holders who use a nickname.

14 Comments

  1. Ryan Connor says:

    Michelle Lombardoz Beardsley this is the guy who has that church on the way to my house i told you about

  2. Ryan Connor says:

    Michelle Lombardoz Beardsley this is the guy who has that church on the way to my house i told you about

  3. This dirtbag is still alive.

  4. This dirtbag is still alive.

  5. Ryan Connor says:

    he ran a big camp and married yunderage girls

  6. Ryan Connor says:

    he ran a big camp and married yunderage girls

  7. I still love finding his church’s literature around, blowing in the wind.

  8. That place on Sierra Hwy is creepy. Why do they need armed guards?

  9. John Gilbert says:

    I remember when they set up shop up on Sierra Hwy and people had to be abducted from the Tony & Susan Alamo Foundation and deprogrammed. He and Susan took peoples property and bought businesses, using their disciple’s as slave labor to amass wealth. Can’t believe this con artist didn’t end up in the Graybar Motel back then.

  10. Michelle Lea says:

    The place on Sierra Hwy is creepy. I heard that big mansion on Sierra Hwy by the Paintball use to be his also but lost it to unpaid taxes. His people are creepy. I heard he has security so no one can leave the premises. He also owns the tan homes next and behind the Halfway House restraunt in Sierra Hwy. He is a sicko sicko

  11. Alicia Ellen says:

    Really Michelle creepy is rite

  12. Hes a creep and a perv i feel sorry for the kids whos are tricked into believin in him sadly enough i went to skool with a kid who there he got punished for not agreeing with him

Leave a Comment


SCV NewsBreak
Current Time 0:00
/
Duration Time 0:00
Loaded: 0%
Progress: 0%
Stream TypeLIVE
Remaining Time -0:00
 
1x
LOCAL NEWS HEADLINES
Tuesday, Jan 14, 2025
County Fire Update: 25 Dead, 40,000 Acres Burned, 12,000 Buildings Lost
Cal Fire and the Los Angeles County Fire Department have reported that 24 people are dead after fires in Los Angeles County have burned more than 40,000 acres.
Tuesday, Jan 14, 2025
Through Jan 15: Windblown Dust and Ash Possible in SCV
The Los Angeles County Department of Public Health is issuing a Windblown Dust and Ash Advisory following strong Santa Ana winds expected to affect the region through Wednesday, Jan. 15, at 7:00 p.m.
Tuesday, Jan 14, 2025
Santa Clarita Voices Podcast Episode 2 Focuses on Homelessness
The city of Santa Clarita has announced the release of the second episode of Santa Clarita Voices, the city’s official podcast that highlights the stories, experiences and conversations from city leaders, businesses and organizations.
Keep Up With Our Facebook

Latest Additions to SCVNews.com
1875 - Henry Mayo Newhall buys western half of the Santa Clarita Valley for $2 an acre [story]
Henry M. Newhall
Cal Fire and the Los Angeles County Fire Department have reported that 24 people are dead after fires in Los Angeles County have burned more than 40,000 acres.
County Fire Update: 25 Dead, 40,000 Acres Burned, 12,000 Buildings Lost
The Los Angeles County Department of Public Health is issuing a Windblown Dust and Ash Advisory following strong Santa Ana winds expected to affect the region through Wednesday, Jan. 15, at 7:00 p.m.
Through Jan 15: Windblown Dust and Ash Possible in SCV
To help wildfire survivors who are wondering whether their house is still standing, Los Angeles County has launched an interactive map that shows the status of their property. The virtual map includes photos and a color-coded key that reflects levels of damage.
County Offers Residents Map of Eaton Fire Damage
Henry Mayo Newhall Hospital and Keck Medicine of USC breast surgical oncologist Amanda Woodworth, MD, has been appointed co-chair of the American Cancer Society’s National Breast Cancer Roundtable Risk Assessment, Screening, Risk Reduction and Early Diagnosis Priority Team.
Woodworth Appointed Co-Chair of ACS Breast Cancer Priority Team
The city of Santa Clarita has announced the release of the second episode of Santa Clarita Voices, the city’s official podcast that highlights the stories, experiences and conversations from city leaders, businesses and organizations.
Santa Clarita Voices Podcast Episode 2 Focuses on Homelessness
Bob Hope Patriotic Hall, a 10-story building in downtown Los Angeles and home to the County of Los Angeles Department of Military and Veterans Affairs and various veteran service partners, has now closed to the public.
County Veterans Services Move to Regional Centers ‘Until Further Notice’
The Ninth Annual Youth Arts Showcase Painters, Pictures and Prose Contest is now accepting submissions. Deadline to submit is Friday Feb. 28.
Feb. 28: Entry Deadline for Youth Arts Showcase
College of the Canyons freshman Wyatt Wilson finished with 32 points to lead the Cougars men's basketball team past visiting Glendale College 96-74 during the Western State Conference, South Division opener on Saturday, Jan. 11.
Canyons Takes Conference Opener 96-74 Over Glendale
College of the Canyons women's basketball was beaten 81-37 by No. 6 state-ranked Glendale College, suffering defeat in the Western State Conference, South Division opener at the Cougar Cage on Saturday, Jan. 11.
Cougars Handed Home Loss by No. 6 Glendale
1988 - One-month-old Santa Clarita City Council votes to form Planning Commission [minutes]
meeting minutes
ESCAPE Theatre will present its 50th Production, "Annie" from Thursday, Jan. 30 thru Sunday, Feb. 2 at the College of the Canyons Santa Clarita Performing Arts Center, 26455 Rockwell Canyon Road, Santa Clarita, CA 91355.
Jan. 30-Feb. 2: ESCAPE Theatre Presents 50th Production ‘Annie’
The Santa Clarita Artists Association has announced its 2025 Scholarship Program, designed to support talented high school senior art students in the Santa Clarita Valley. Applications are open and will be accepted through Friday, Feb. 28.
Feb. 28:  Deadline for SCAA Art Scholarships for High School Seniors
The regular meeting of the William S. Hart Union High School District’s Governing Board will be held Wednesday, Jan. 15, beginning with a closed session at 6 p.m., followed by an open session at 7 p.m.
Jan. 15: Regular Meeting of Hart School Board
Due to continuing wildfires raging across Los Angeles County DoorDash will continue to waive fees on orders in the county and donate $1 to World Central Kitchen for every order placed in the area, up to $1 million.
DoorDash Waive Fees, Donates to World Central Kitchen
Cal Fire and the Los Angeles County Fire Department have reported that 24 people are dead after fires in Los Angeles County have burned more than 40,000 acres. It is estimated that more than 12,000 structures have been damaged or destroyed. There currently are three active fires in L.A. County. The Lida Fire near Acton is 100% contained.
Death Toll Reaches 24 in L.A. Wildfires, More Wind Expected
The Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority announced the postponement of the 2025 Greater Los Angeles Homeless Count for at least 30 days.
LAHSA Postpones Homeless Count Due to Wildfires
As part of SCVBandscast, Raised on TV will play at The Main in Newhall on Thursday, Feb. 6 at 7 p.m.
Feb. 6: Raised on TV to Open SCVBandscast at The Main
Registration is now open for the next session of Nest Healing Art Studio, to be held on Sunday, Feb. 2 at ARTree Community Arts Center, 22508 6th St., Santa Clarita, CA 91321. Session times in 2025 are scheduled for 1-2 p.m.
Feb. 2: Nest Healing Art Studio
As it does every weekend throughout the year, the Old Town Newhall Farmers Market will be open on Saturday, Jan. 18 from 8:30 am to 1 p.m.
Jan. 18: Old Town Newhall Farmers Market
The Castaic Union School District will hold its regular board meeting Thursday, Jan. 16 at the District Office, located at 28131 Livingston Ave., Valencia, CA 91355.
Jan. 16: Regular Meeting of the CUSD Governing Board
The Master's University men's swim team led the way in the pool as both the men's and women's team competed in the Triple Distance Individual hosted by Concordia University Irvine at the William Woollett Jr. Aquatics Center in Irvine Saturday afternoon Jan. 11.
TMU Swim Competes through Tough Week
The city of Santa Clarita’s Film Office has released the list of five productions currently filming in the Santa Clarita Valley for the week of Monday, Jan. 13 to Sunday, Jan. 19.
Jan. 13-19: Five Productions Filming in Santa Clarita
Kaleb Lowery became just the fourth player in The Master's University men's basketball history to eclipse the 2,000-point mark in the Mustangs' 80-67 win over the Ottawa University of Arizona Spirit Saturday, Jan. 11 in The MacArthur Center.
Mustangs Win, Lowery Gets Career Point 2,000
SCVNews.com