Prosecutor: Rev. Henry Lyons `Led Two Totally Different Lives'
January 25, 1999LARGO, Fla. — The Rev. Henry Lyons led the public life of a respected preacher, but was a smooth operator who swindled $250,000 intended to rebuild burned black churches in the South, a prosecutor said Monday.
"You have to be wondering, 'Did he give any money to the burned churches at all?' Yes, he gave a fraction of the $250,000,'' Assistant State Attorney Robert Lewis said in his opening statement at Lyons' racketeering and grand theft trial.
Lyons, the president of the National Baptist Convention USA, and co-defendant Bernice Edwards allegedly devised elaborate schemes to divert about $4 million intended for the church group to buy expensive homes, diamond jewelry and luxury cars.
Ms. Edwards, Lyons' alleged mistress, is charged with racketeering.
The preacher "led two totally different lives. He led one public life ... but there was a second side, a hidden side to Henry J. Lyons, a side that caused him to be brought here to this seat,'' Lewis said, turning and pointing to Lyons at the defense table.
He said Lyons deceived corporations and the Anti-Defamation League of B'nai B'rith, which entrusted him with the money for the burned churches.
"They believed that man because he was so smooth, appeared to be so sincere, made eye contact, appeared to have nothing but the National Baptist Convention's interests as his motivator,'' Lewis said.
"You'll have an opportunity to see how smooth, how persuasive he was.''
Defense attorneys were expected to present their case later in the day.
"I want America, African-Americans and all Americans to know that Henry Lyons is not guilty of all these crimes,'' Lyons said last week.
Lyons faces a similar trial on 54 federal charges of bank fraud, wire fraud, extortion and money laundering.
The state and federal cases center in large part on Lyons' and Ms. Edwards' dealings with the world's second-largest funeral company, The Loewen Group, based in Vancouver, British Columbia, and other white-owned businesses who wanted to attracted black customers.
For Loewen, Lyons was to deliver black Baptists, and the church group would receive 33 percent of sales through commissions. Instead, prosecutors say, just $187,600 of Loewen's money went to market cemetery plots, while more than $1.6 million went to Lyons, his friends and family.
Ms. Edwards had asked that their cases be tried separately — partly because she'd hoped Lyons could testify on her behalf — but that motion was denied.
The Milwaukee woman was the convention's public relations director. Years before being hired, she was convicted in Wisconsin of embezzling federal funds from a school for at-risk children.
She also is the woman with whom Lyons owned a $700,000 waterfront house where the saga began unfolding in July 1997.
It was there that Lyons' wife, Deborah, told deputies she had torn apart pillows and set small fires after finding a deed in her husband's briefcase showing he owned the lavish home with Ms. Edwards. An investigation followed.
Mrs. Lyons later denied ever believing her husband had cheated on her, blaming her actions on problems with alcohol. She was sentenced to five years' probation on an arson charge.
Lyons has survived attempts to oust him as president of the National Baptist Convention, but has lost much of his power and influence.
Before the case, he was admired as a rousing preacher, known to interrupt his own sermons with: "I'm doing some preaching now.''
Off the pulpit, he wielded political clout as leader of a group that claimed to have 8.5 million members — making it the largest black church organization in the country.
But prosecutors say that number was "a complete hoax,'' vastly inflated as part of the scheme to swindle money from corporations that thought they were paying to have their products promoted to convention members.
January 25, 1999
Source: Newswire
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