An attorney said Wednesday that he plans to publish a notice in a newspaper as early as next week giving the man accused of being Tony Alamo's "enforcer" 30 days to respond to a lawsuit or risk having a judgment entered against him.
The lawsuit was filed in U.S. District Court in Texarkana in November by Spencer Ondrisek and Seth Calagna, both 18 at the time, against Alamo and John Kolbeck, who authorities say administered beatings on Alamo's behalf.
Ondrisek and Calagna, who both left the ministry last year, say Kolbeck beat them with a wooden board at Alamo's direction. But the teenagers' attorney, W. David Carter of Texarkana, Texas, said he has been unable to find Kolbeck to serve him with a copy of the lawsuit.
Federal authorities can't find Kolbeck either - he is wanted on a second-degree battery charge in connection with Calagna's beating and on a federal charge of unlawful flight to avoid prosecution.
On Tuesday, U.S. District Judge Harry F. Barnes gave Carter permission to notify Kolbeck of the lawsuit by publishing a notice the Texarkana Gazette.
Carter said he plans to place a notice in the paper as soon as next week. If Kolbeck doesn't respond within 30 days, Carter said he will likely ask that a judgment be entered against him by default.
"It's just another little step in the trail," Carter said. "We'll see what happens when the 30 days runs."
Alamo, 74, is being held without bail on charges that he transported five underage girls across state lines between March 1994 and October 2005.
His trial on the charges is set for July 13.
