DETROIT – A former church leader accused of operating a multi-state forced labor and money laundering conspiracy is now asking a judge for permission to start a fundraiser to help pay for living expenses while she’s out on bond.
Michelle Brannon, 56, was arrested last year along with David Taylor, the leader of Kingdom of God Global Church. The two are accused of victimizing people working at call centers that solicited donations for their organization in Michigan, Florida, Texas, and Missouri.
Brannon and Taylor are facing several charges, including conspiracy to commit money laundering, forced labor, and conspiracy to commit forced labor. Each charge carries a sentence of up to 20 years in prison.
Last month, a third church official, Kathleen Klein, was added to the indictment.
At a motion hearing Thursday, Brannon’s attorney, John Rogers, asked U.S District Judge Terrence Berg to amend her bond conditions to allow her to create a GoFundMe to help pay for housing and legal fees.
Under Brannon’s current bond conditions, she may have no contact with any members of Kingdom of God Global Church and must provide proof that her bond address is not being paid for by the church or any of its members.
Berg said he would take the request under advisement, stipulating that the GoFundMe would have to be set up in a way that would not allow anonymous donations, and that a pre-trial services officer would have to be able to monitor who is making donations.
While Berg said employees of the church would not be allowed to donate, members of the church’s congregation could donate to the fundraiser.
Rogers also asked the judge if Brannon could be allowed to live with a church official while out on bond, provided that she disassociates with the church and has no contact with its members.
Rogers said the woman, named Kea Jones, has been Brannon’s longtime caretaker and has helped with her medical needs.
Jones spoke with Local 4 at a rally outside the federal courthouse on Saturday, where dozens of Taylor’s supporters gathered to speak out against his arrest.
“They have criminalized our church to make it look like we’re a criminal organization and we are a Christian church that glorifies God every day,” Jones told Local 4. “They try to call us victims in the news, they try to say that they were rescuing us, but they put guns to our faces, and they are treating us like fugitives.”
In court, prosecutors cited a message recovered from Jones’ phone using the messenger app Signal, which uses end-to-end encryption to secure text messages.
While prosecutors didn’t read the message aloud, they argued that Jones appeared to be tampering with a witness in the case by passing along a message from Taylor.
Berg denied the request to allow Jones to live with Brannon, citing the text message and the fact that Jones is a witness for the defense.
Taylor, Brannon, and Klein are scheduled to go on trial in November.