It's Miami or it's prison, Yahweh Ben Yahweh tells parole board

Yahweh Ben Yahweh refuses to leave prison.

The door is open for him.
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But the religious leader, convicted in 1992 of conspiring to commit 14 murders, won't leave Raybrook Federal Prison in upstate New York after nine years because of a glitch in the works.

It is this: He wants to go to the spacious Miami apartment rented by his religious followers, the Yahwehs, who believe he is the son of God. But the Federal Parole Commission has not given the go-ahead for him to do this. So, Yahweh Ben Yahweh is not paying a $16,593 federal fine that, as long as it is owed, keeps him in prison.

``He will pay his fine when the release address he submits on his forms is approved by the parole board,'' said his lawyer, Jon May. ``Not before.''

In February, Yahweh submitted his first choice for where he wanted to live. He asked to go to Enid, Okla., his childhood hometown, and live with his 83-year-old mother, who is a fundamentalist Christian. But Scott Schakett, federal parole director in Oklahoma, rejected this proposal, writing federal prison officials: ``Enid is a small rural community comprised primarily of Caucasian, traditional Christian individuals who would not subscribe to Mr. Yahweh's highly publicized religious and social beliefs.''
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Then, Yahweh asked to live in Miami Shores with Delia Hankerson, a Yahweh leader. But the parole board rejected this proposal because the religious leader, as part of the conditions of his parole, cannot ``have direct or indirect contact'' with members of his religious sect.
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Now, Yahweh is waiting to hear if he can live alone in the Miami apartment.

``It's a pending issue that we hope will be decided next week,'' said Glenn Horowitz, Miami deputy director with the U.S. Parole Commission.
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In July, Yahweh sued the U.S. Parole Commission, saying its restrictions on his contacts were ``overbroad'' and violated his constitutional rights to religious freedom.

Wednesday, Federal Judge K. Michael Moore ruled that the federal parole conditions would stick.
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It's Miami or it's prison, Yahweh tells parole board

Religious leader refuses to pay fine