Ministry leader gets jail term
Cooperation helps cut the sentence for a man accused of swindling millions from religious investors.
The Tampa Tribune, June 19, 1999
By Michael Fechter
A state judge sentenced Jonathan Strawder to five years in prison Friday for his financial ``spinoff'' of Greater Ministries International.
That's the same sentence a federal judge in Tampa gave Strawder June 9 and results from plea deals with state and federal prosecutors. He'll serve the sentences concurrently in a federal prison.
Strawder's Sovereign Ministries International bilked $12.6 million from investors in 1997.
Since state regulators confronted him a year ago, Strawder sold off the sports cars, boats and other assets he accumulated with investors' money. Nearly $8 million of the $12 million invested with Sovereign already has been recovered, said Assistant Statewide Prosecutor Thomas Sadaka.
``A lot [of victims] are going to be able to get their money back, at least a good part of it,'' he said.
The sentence from Orange County Circuit Judge Thomas Mihok would have been more severe otherwise.
Strawder must report to federal prison officials by Sept. 15. He'll be on probation five years after completing his sentence and will commit 20 percent of his gross income to paying back victims until the restitution is complete.
Defense attorney Joel Hirschhorn said he's never happy to see a client go to prison but ``particularly considering the fact there was the use of a religious organization I think five years is appropriate.''
Strawder may win a lesser sentence by continuing to refund the money and assisting federal prosecutors in the pending conspiracy, money laundering and mail fraud trial of seven Greater Ministries officials. He is expected to be a witness in the trial, set for August.
Strawder's father and uncle were active Greater Ministries participants and he started Sovereign Ministries after working with his relatives at the Tampa enterprise.
Both programs offered triple- digit returns on investors' money and cited biblical verses to justify their programs.
He is the second former Greater Ministries member sentenced for illegal scams this week.
Former elder Patrick Henry Talbert received a 10-year sentence from Hillsborough Circuit Judge Ralph Steinberg Wednesday. Talbert was convicted on 38 counts of racketeering, conspiracy and securities violations stemming from a program called DTA Trust.
