Nuwaubian property to be sold, proceeds to go to authorities

Associated Press /May 26, 2005

Eatonton, Ga -- A new buyer has been found for the 476-acre Putnam County compound once owned by convicted United Nuwaubian Nation of Moors leader Malachi York. A spokeswoman with the U.S. Marshals Service, which is selling the property, said the deal will be final June 10. They would not disclose who is buying the property.

A man planning to raise and train guard dogs was going to buy the property, valued at about $1 million, but he backed out of the deal, said Robert Kraummel, a real estate agent who is brokering the deal.

York was sentenced to 135 years in federal prison in April 2004 for molesting 14 boys and girls whose parents were members of the group. He was also convicted of racketeering. In August 2004, the federal government seized the farm that was once home nearly 500 members of the quasi-religious sect.

At their height, the Nuwaubians brought 5,000 people to Eatonton for Savior's Day to celebrate York's birthday.

Federal officials said the proceeds from the sale of the will go to the agencies involved in the investigation, primarily the Putnam County Sheriff's Office and the FBI.

York founded the religious group, which shifted from its Islamic roots to Judaism, Christianity, and Egyptian mysticism, in the late 1960s, before moving it to rural Putnam County in 1993.