Nuwaubians retain control of land for now

Associated Press/July 1, 2004

Macon, GA -- A federal judge has allowed members of the United Nuwaubian Nation of Moors to keep $1.7 million in land until the court decides whether the group's leader, convicted child molester Malachi York, will get a new trial.

At a hearing yesterday, U-S District Judge C- Ashley Royal said there was no evidence that anyone other than York owned the land, but he agreed to delay the final ruling on whether federal officials could seize the property.

York was sentenced in April to 135 years in federal prison after his January conviction on child molestation and racketeering charges. Defense attorneys have filed a motion for a new trial and a notice of intent to appeal the conviction.

Prosecutors filed a civil lawsuit against York last year to seize his property. But Nuwaubian members claimed the land -- including the quasi-religious sect's 476-acre compound in Putnam County and York's house in Athens -- belongs to them and not York.