(Screenshot: David E. Taylor preaching about Passover in 2021.
A new court filing reveals the FBI and IRS obtained more than 250 subpoenas requiring people to testify or provide documents, and approximately 22 search warrants during their investigation of televangelist David E. Taylor, his assistant Michelle Brannon, and their Kingdom of God Global Church’s alleged use of forced labor and money laundering.
Because of the complexity of the case, the federal government requested the November trial date be postponed. This type of request is called a continuance. When granted, it sets aside the right to a speedy trial guaranteed by the Sixth Amendment so that the plaintiff and defendants have adequate time in preparing for court.
According to the filing, “The ends of justice require a continuance here, and the ends of justice outweigh the interests of the public and the defendants in a speedy trial. Therefore … the parties request that the Court find that the time between November 18, 2025, and April 14, 2026, be excluded in computing the time within which the trial must commence.”
Why So Many Subpoenas?
On August 27, the FBI raided the Kingdom of God Global Church parsonage in Tampa and found 57 volunteers working in the massive 11.5-bedroom mansion operating as a call center. The church also operated call centers in Michigan, Missouri and Texas with volunteer personnel.
(Photo: The Redfin real estate website estimates the Tampa parsonage is worth $9.5 million.)
In 2017, Taylor’s non-profit organization Joshua Media Ministries International (JMMI) filed a Form 990 with the IRS, revealing total revenue, total expenses and other information of interest to the government and donors.
Page one of the 990 reported the ministry only had one employee and 40 volunteers.
Each volunteer in Taylor’s church and ministry represents a potential witness in court.
Additional Charges May Be Filed Against Taylor
During a detainment hearing, the prosecutor informed the court that Taylor is under investigation for possible sexual abuse.
This continuing investigation was also revealed in a memorandum presented to the court which stated, “The government’s investigation regarding TAYLOR’s insistence that women in his criminal organization send him sexually explicit photographs and videos is ongoing.”
Reporting Fraud
Taylor’s ministry JMMI is part of the growing trend of religious non-profit organizations rejecting financial transparency. After the ministry failed to file 990s for three consecutive years, the IRS revoked its tax-exemption.
According to Taylor’s prosecutor, Kingdom of God Global Church replaced JMMI. Because Congress exempted churches from filing 990s, it has become a common practice for televangelists to eliminate public financial reporting by claiming church status.
Taylor is unlikely to face any charges for questionable, if not fraudulent information, included in JMMI’s final 990 filed in 2017. The statute of limitations of three to six years imposed by the Church Audit Procedures Act has expired.
The 2017 Form 990 reported zero compensation for Taylor and Brannon from JMMI or related organizations.
Line 1D on the following page reports zero total compensation for the JMMI executives. The 990 also did not include the Schedule J page when it was submitted to the IRS. That page, if completed, would disclose the use of parsonages and clergy housing allowances.
Seizing Assets
The indictment includes a forfeiture allegation which would allow the federal government to seize “any property, real or personal, that was involved in, used, or intended to be used to commit or to facilitate the commission of such violation…” if Taylor and Brannon are convicted.
Such assets would include the nine church properties, luxury vehicles (Bentley Continental, Bentley Mulsanne, and Rolls Royce Cullinan), jet skis and approximately $500,000 worth of gold bars discovered in Brannon’s bedroom closet safe.
Defensive Legal Strategies
Taylor and Brannon were charged with conspiracy to commit forced labor. The indictment includes text messages from Taylor making threats if fundraising quotas were not reached.
An example: “… you’ll have to raise $164k today!! Each hour you fall behind consequences will start..we will mess with the food. You will fast from the regular food or abstain for a while normally … As of now there’s a 21 day peanut butter and jelly regiment like before!”
Responses by the attorneys for Taylor and Brannon provide clues to the defense strategies they will use in the upcoming trial.
In response to the prosecutor’s motion for detainment, Taylor’s attorney submitted a memorandum claiming, “… the persons considered victims by the government all volunteered to be in Pastor Taylor’s Church, and they were always free to leave it. The indictment does not attempt to address the 100% voluntary nature of the Church-Parishioner relationships initiated by these alleged victims, or the crucial fact that anyone could leave the Church at any time.”
Meanwhile, Brannon’s attorney submitted a memorandum to the court suggesting that Brannon was also a victim of Taylor: “The Government’s Detention Memorandum overwhelmingly lumps Defendant Brannon with Defendant Taylor, failing to recognize that the same elements of manipulation and control that it attributes to Taylor appear evident from the acts alleged in the Indictment to be applicable to his relationship with Defendant Brannon as well.”
Key Court Dates
