Fallen television evangelist Jim Bakker, serving a 45-year sentence for fraud and conspiracy, will be moved from a prison in Alabama to the Federal Medical Center in Rochester, officials said Friday.
Bakker, 49, the founder of the PTL ministry, will be on the medium-security facility's work crew, but no specific assignment has been made, said center spokesman John Chreno.Bakker's transfer to Rochester is permanent, although he could be transferred again, Chreno said. He will serve his sentence as a member of the medical center's general population, meaning he is not being assigned to Rochester as a patient for treatment of any mental or physical illness, he said. Bakker had a breakdown during his trial.
Among the criminals at the prison in this southeastern Minnesota city of 60,000, which is the home of the Mayo Clinic, are those convicted of federal crimes who need medical or psychiatric care.
Lyndon LaRouche, the political extremist and former fringe presidential candidate, is serving a 15-year sentence at the facility on conspiracy charges.