Cult leader, molester to learn fate in May

Sentencing postponed

Athens Banner-Herald/March 27, 2004
By Joe Johnson

Sentencing for convicted child molester and cult leader Dwight ''Malachi'' York that was supposed to have taken place Friday in federal court in Macon has been rescheduled for May 18, U.S. Department of Justice Spokeswoman Pamela Lightsey said.

The reason for the change is because a motion has been filed to have Athens attorney Adrian Patrick removed as York's attorney. A hearing on that motion is set for 10 a.m. May 14, Lightsey said.

An additional hearing is scheduled for May 19, at which time a determination will be made how much financial restitution York owes the government because of tax fraud.

York, the 58-year-old leader of the quasi-religious United Nuwaubian Nation of Moors sect, was convicted of molesting children at the group's Putnam County compound as well as at his Athens mansion.

A jury in U.S. District Court in Brunswick on Jan. 23 found York guilty of conspiracy, racketeering, conspiracy to transport minors for unlawful sex, two counts of transporting minors for unlawful sex, traveling interstate to engage in unlawful sex and three charges of structuring cash transactions to avoid reporting requirements.

Although pre-trial proceedings had been held in Macon, the trial was moved to Brunswick due to defense claims of unfair pre-trial publicity. Prosecutors have said York will likely get between 20 and 30 years in prison. He still faces 77 state charges of child molestation, to which he pleaded guilty as part of a plea agreement a year ago.