WHAT ARE THE FACTS CONCERNING THE MINISTERIAL NON-PROFIT ACCOUNT, "FACE TO FACE MINISTRIES"?
COMMENT: Approximately 2 - 3 years prior to the opening of this account, AL PETTY'S brother, DAN PETTY, had been talking with AL about his concern that AL avoid paying any taxes that were LEGALLY exempt. AL was never over-concerned about not being able to meet all legal tax responsibilities, so this was not a matter of MUTUAL concern between AL and his brother, DAN. However, AL was painfully aware of the government's propensity to SHUT DOWN entrepreneural businesses that were creatively producing extraordinarily high Profits, Profits that were "out of the Box" of conventional modes of operations, (such as Banks and the Stock Market).
DAN told AL that he had a long time Christian Friend that had a Christian Organization that he felt could help AL in both areas - avoiding unnecessary taxes, as well as PROTECTING the funds of TeleCom2000 that were allocated to meet the GUARANTEED Commissions that AL PETTY paid the TeleCom2000 Business Owners. Then, DAN set up a meeting at the IHOP in Tyler, Texas for AL to meet his friend, PAUL ERICKSON and discuss these things. However, the initial discussion at that meeting concerned more about the WORD OF GOD than Business. AL PETTY was EXTREMELY disturbed about some of the principles in God's Word that he felt Paul was mis-interpreting, especially as they related to the way AL felt that PAUL was using the scriptures to 'Justify" some of his "FINANCIAL PROSPERITY" views.In fact, there was very little discussion about the nature of PAUL'S business during that initial meeting because AL PETTY was convinced that he did not want any relationship, BUSINESS OR PERSONAL, with PAUL ERICKSON. After the meeting AL told his brother DAN that he did not want to have anything to do with PAUL because he felt uncomfortable "with PAUL'S arrogant Spirit", as well as with PAUL'S interpretation of Principles in God's WORD. However, some two years later, in about Nov. of 2001, DAN once again brought up the fact that he had a friend who he felt could assist AL with avoiding unneccessary taxes, as well as protecting his assetts, especially the funds allocated to pay his TeleCom2000 Business Owners. However, DAN did NOT tell AL it was his friend from 2 years ago, PAUL ERICKSON! At that time AL was EXTREMELY BUSY, the business was 'EXPLODING', and AL told DAN more than once that he simply did not have time to even discuss a meeting with his friend about these things. Apparently DAN gave up trying to persuade AL to consent to a meeting. (AL did not know that DAN would receive a nice commission from the transaction, as well as very lucrative commissions of from $20,000 to $100,000 per month if he could get AL to committ to the CDI program!) After AL made it clear to DAN that he just did not have time to meet with his friend, DAN begain talking with AL's trusted, (at the time - since then she became a burglar - blackmailer and government informant and key government witness!), Employee SANDRA HALLEY.SANDRA had been urging AL to take measures to avoid unneccessary taxes and protect his assets from government seizure - due to her misunderstanding his business and AL PETTY - for several months. DAN approached her about her meeting with the principals of CDI and then influencing AL to let them set up a meeting to discuss this. SANDRA agreed and took off from work to go to Tyler and meet with DAN, PAUL, ( and possibly the founder of CDI, RANDY JARVIS?) After that meeting SANDRA was really excited about what she heard and was in total agreement with DAN that AL PETTY SHOULD meet with them about setting up a non - profit - Ministerial Account. Since SANDRA had been associated with bookkeeping and taxes for a long time, and she had helped AL in many of those areas such as setting up CHECKFREE, keeping up with AL's payroll taxes, etc., AL Trusted her Judgment to a greater degree than DAN'S opinion on these matters. However AL was EXTREMELY BUSY at the time. He finally told SANDRA to tell DAN that he would meet with them, on the condition that they would come to corporate, be prepared first, and that AL would spend no more than 5 minutes with them on this initial visit. SANDRA then set up the meeting with DAN, PAUL ERICKSON, (from OKlahoma), and the founder of CDI, RANDY JARVIS, who came down from Kansas City for the meeting. Although AL had made it clear that he would only spend 5 minutes or so with them on this initial meeting. AL was also very specific as to the TIME of that 5 minute meeting. AL PETTY told his other employees that he was taking 5 minutes to meet his brother, DAN & SANDRA & some others regarding protecting the funds to ensure that he would be able to continue to meet his AUTOPAY scheduled - contracts with the TeleCom2000 Business Owners.PAUL, DAN, & RANDY, (& possibly SANDRA was with them, ?), arrived about 1/2 hour early and stayed out in the front yard, discussing their stategy. At the scheduled time, AL invited them in. In the presence of ALL of the employees, AL discussed this with DAN (AL'S brother), SANDRA, PAUL AND RANDY. However the conversation was very strained when AL realized that this fellow, PAUL, was the SAME man that he had told DAN 2 years or so earlier that he did NOT trust PAUL, and that he wanted nothing to do with him. AL felt that his brother had DECEIVED him into agreeing to this meeting through SANDRA, KNOWING that he would not have consented to the meeting if he had known that one of the principals was PAUL, nor would AL have agreed to the meeting if SANDRA had not persisted he do so. AL simply did not see this subject as important enough for him to divert time from running TeleCom2000's operations for a discussion of this subject matter. AL's feelings were made clear in the FACT that he scheduled the meeting for only 5 minutes, even through it concerned a potential of millions of dollars. As always, AL's Top Concern was "GETTING THE CHECKS OUT!" (All of the employees can witness to the fact that AL scheduled the initial meeting for only 5 minutes, testifying to what his "PRIORITIES' were!)However during that brief meeting, SANDRA & DAN convinced AL that he should schedule a subsequent meeting during which AL could have time to get his questions as to the validity of this program. The "Bottom Line" is that, after meeting later with the principals, asking some of his other employees, (namely his office-manager, SHAY RHAME, who later embezzled AL PETTY for $500,000 and became a government informant and scheduled Key witness - never appearing in Court, for obvious reasons!), to attend the meeting. After the subsequent meeting, AL RELUCTANTLY Agreed - TRULY against his better judgment - to open the FACE TO FACE Account and to enter into an agreement with CDI, RANDY, PAUL AND DAN PETTY. It is important to note that AL made sure there was NOTHING ILLEGAL about opening this account, nor was there anything illegal with anything AL did subsequently. But it is a FACT that AL simply was NOT comfortable in forming an alliance with RANDY JARVIS, AND ESPECIALLY PAUL ERICKSON.Now to some testimony from the trial regarding the above:SANDRA HALLEY - Former trusted employee of AL PETTY who 1) Burglarized TeleCom2000 for $98,000 and planted it for the FBI as 'evidence' that AL PETTY was trying to conceal funds and abscond with them. 2) threatened to BLACKMAIL AL PETTY for $1,000,000. 3) committed 'COMPUTER THEFT' by downloading about 300 pages of proprietary information, and "THEFT BY CHECK' by cashing paychecks from Al Petty while, in reality, working for the FBI and prosecution. SANDRA was a major factor in influencing AL PETTY to enter into a relationship with CDI (Christian Disciple International). Top of PageKENNER: (V3;P136-138,L9-P138;L-17) "GOING BACK TO DECEMBER OF 2001, DID YOU BECOME AWARE THAT MR. PETTY WAS SETTING UP A MINISTRY ACCOUNT?"
HALLEY: "YES, I WAS AWARE".
KENNER: "WHAT WAS THE NAME OF THIS MINISTRY ACCOUNT?"
HALLEY: "FACE TO FACE." - - - "IT WAS STRUCTURED - WELL, IT WAS A MINISTRY WITHIN ITSELF. iT WAS STRUCTURE THROUGH "CHRISTIAN DISCIPLES INTERNATIONAL', BUT 'FACE TO FACE WAS MR. PETTY'S MINISTRY".
KENNER: "EXPLAIN TO THE JURY WHAT YOU UNDERSTAND ABOUT THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN CHRISTIAN DISCIPLES INTERNATIONAL AND FACE TO FACE MINISTRIES."
HALLEY: "CHRISTIAN DISCIPLES INTERNATIONAL WAS AN UMBRELLA ORGANIZATION. THEY MADE IT POSSIBLE FOR PEOPLE WITH MINISTRIES TO SET UP MINISTRY ACCOUNTS WHEREBY THEY COULD CONTRIBUTE THROUGH CDI; CHANNEL IT INTO THEIR MINISTRY ACCOUNT. THEN CDI WOULD TAKE A COMMISSION OFF THE TOP, BUT EVERYTHING ELSE WENT THROUGH TO THE INDIVIDUAL'S MINISTRY ACCOUNT. THEN CDI WOULD TAKE A COMMISSION OFF THE TOP, BUT EVERYTHING ELSE THAT WENT THROUGH TO THE INDIVIDUAL'S MINISTRY ACCOUNT WAS VIRTUALLY A 'NON-PROFIT-TAX-FREE' ORGANIZATION."
KENNER: "NOW DID YOU ATTEND MEETINGS REGARDING OR CONCERNING SETTING UP THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN CHRISTIAN DISCIPLES INTERNATIONAL AND FACE TO FACE MINISTRIES?"
HALLEY: "YES, I DID MEET WITH THE INDIVIDUALS WHO OPERATED 'CDI', OR CHRISTIAN DISCIPLES INTERNATIONAL, ON PROBABLY THREE OCCASIONS, TOTAL." - - - "THE FIRST TIME THAT WE MET WAS AT A RESTAURANT, AND THAT'S PROBABLY THE FIRST MEETING."
COMMENT: This was the meeting commented on earlier, that SANDRA, at the request of DAN PETTY, took off from work to attend and at which she apparently was 'convinced - to - convince' Al Petty to agree to meet with PAUL AND RANDY.
KENNER: "WAS THAT BEFORE THE ACCOUNTS WERE ACTUALLY SET UP?"
HALLEY: "OH, YES. "- - - "AT THE DECEMBER 1ST MEETING, THAT WOULD HAVE TO BE THE MEETING WHERE BOTH THE REPRESENTATIVES OF CDI, MR. PETTY, MYSELF, SHAY RHAME, HIS BROTHER, WHERE WE WERE ALL PRESENT."
KENNER: "AND WHAT WAS YOUR UNDERSTANDING OF THE INTENT IN SETTING UP THESE ACCOUNTS?"
COMMENT: From the beginning of talks over 2 years previously, the 'intent', the REASONS for AL PETTY'S INTEREST in this account was to protect the funds of the TeleCom2000 Business Owners from exactly what DID occur, which was; AL PETTY was, (at least), he was misunderstood, or (at most), the objective of a vendetta against him, conspiracy, fabrication, and resulting abuse of power, lust and greed. In any event, AL PETTY'S relationship with CDI did NOT keep the government from seizing the funds of the TeleCom2000 Business Owners, NOR did it save him any money on TAXES, as he was told it would do. The tithes of $2,000 - $4,000 per week, the $10,000 contributions that he made to 3 non-profit entities would have been tax deductible if he had made them from his own accounts, as opposed to the FACE TO FACE Account. So, ALL of the 'JARGON' given AL by his brother, SANDRA, PAUL AND RANDY turned out to be a pack of lies, costing AL over $15,000 paid to CDI, and most disastrously, triggering the intensity of the FBI's investigation to call in the IRS, and subsequently, an agent of the FBI from the Dallas office, JAMES HERSLEY, and the rest is History! The Bottom Line is that AL PETTY would probably still be a free man and thousands of TeleCom2000 Business Owners would now be financially independent, and the government would have received about $50,000,000 in taxes by now, (November 2004) if AL PETTY had followed the "leading" of what he felt strongly in his "SPIRIT", and if he had REFUSED to listen to the 'compelling arguments' of DAN PETTY AND SANDRA HALLEY!
Now, back to SANDRA'S Testimony. As previously stated, AL PETTY'S interest in CDI was because he was convinced that entering into this 'program' would 1) save on Taxes and 2) ensure the safety of the TeleCom2000 Business Owners' money. NEITHER of which it did. AL PETTY states that he did NOT tell SANDRA his objectives were of the content of her following testimony to the court. At best, her following testimony was a 'figment of her imagination' and at worst, it was an outright LIE!HALLEY: "THE INITIAL INTENT, THE WAY I UNDERSTOOD IT, WAS THAT MR. PETTY WANTED TO, MORE OR LESS, BE A BENEFACTOR OF THE 'STEEL GUITAR MUSICIANS' IN TEXAS TO HELP ESTABLISH A MUSIC HALL, A MEETING PLACE FOR THEM, TO PERHAPS-HELP STUDENTS THAT HAD MUSICAL ABILITIES, TO ASSIST THEM IN FURTHERING THEIR MUSIC, TO UTILIZE THIS MINISTRY TO BE A BENEFACTOR TO OTHER PEOPLE."
COMMENT: AL PETTY could have accomplished these things WITHOUT CDI! In fact, helping music students, etc., had NOTHING to do with AL PETTY'S reasons to set up "FACE TO FACE".
KENNER: "NOW, DID MR. PETTY TAPE RECORD THE MEETINGS WITH THE INDIVIDUALS WHO WERE SETTING UP THE CDI ACCOUNTS AND DISCUSS SETTING UP THE FACE TO FACE MINISTRY ACCOUNT?"
HALLEY: "YES, MR. PETTY DID RECORD THEM."
KENNER: "WERE YOU AWARE THAT HE WAS RECORDING THE MEETINGS?"
HALLEY: "YES, WE - -- - WE WERE VERY MUCH AWARE!"
CROSS
SMITH: "WHOSE IDEA WAS IT TO SET UP THE MINISTRY ACCOUNT, FACE TO FACE?"
COMMENT: LIES by HALLEY
HALLEY: "DAN PETTY".
SMITH: "IT WASN'T YOUR IDEA?"
HALLEY: "NO SIR, IT WAS NOT MY IDEA".
COMMENT: All evidence supports the previous description of HALLEY'S ROLE IN influencing AL PETTY to open the FACE TO FACE ACCOUNT. Yes, the ORIGINAL IDEA for the ministerial account was DAN PETTY'S. However, AL PETTY CLOSED THE DOOR on that idea and it would have REMAINED CLOSED if DAN had not introduced the idea to HALLEY, and she - in turn - was the 'catalyst' that caused AL PETTY to agree to the 'FATAL FIVE MINUTE MEETING' that culminated in the opening of the ministerial account.
The tragedy is that it is clear that AL PETTY would NEVER have opened that account and would still be free and operating TeleCom2000 without the urging of two persons DAN PETTY AND SANDRA HALLEY. AND it's a fact that there would not have been a shut down on April 4th, 2002, IF his brother and HALLEY had not co-erced AL PETTY into opening the MINISTRY ACCOUNT! 