
Prosecutor Contends Lust For Money, Power Led To Swami's Downfall

MARTINSBURG, W.Va. (AP) -- A former Hare Krishna leader, accused of amassing 
more than $10 million through an illegal business, became so greedy he ordered 
the deaths of two dissidents who threatened his authority, a prosecutor said 
Tuesday.

"This case is about greed: greed for money, greed for power and greed for 
control," said Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael Stein, who showed jurors a photo
of Swami Bhaktipada wearing a necklace made of $100 bills.

The trial resumes Wednesday.

Bhaktipada, 58, is charged with three counts of racketeering, six counts of mail
fraud and one count each of conspiracy and interstate travel to commit murder 
for hire. He created the nation's largest Krishna community in New Vrindaban in 
West Virginia's Northern Panhandle, about 80 miles southwest of Pittsburgh.

In its indictment, the government said Bhaktipada used two murders, a 
kidnapping, threats and beatings to protect an illegal enterprise from 1980 to 
1985.

Defense attorney Eugene Iredale of San Diego said Bhaktipada never ordered the 
anyone's murder and that the community was simply too big for the former 
spiritual leader to know everything that was happening around him.

"The only thing he is guilty of is being the worst administrator in the 
country," Iredale said.

Bhaktipada was convicted on the racketeering and mail fraud counts in 1991 but 
the convictions were overturned. The first jury failed to reach a conclusion on 
two counts related to the slaying of a Krishna dissident.

Stein said Tuesday that Bhaktipada had absolute control over all activities at 
the community, including charity fraud and the illegal sale of millions of caps 
and bumper stickers bearing copyrights and trademarked logos.

Bhaktipada also enticed money from his devotees with false promises, a practice 
that Stein called the "swami shuffle."

Stein said Bhaktipada was unwilling to let a fringe member get away with 
spreading rumors that the leader was having homosexual sex, abusing Mexican boys
and selling drugs.

The man, Charles St. Dennis, was killed by two members of Bhaktipada's 
community, prosecutors said. Stephen Bryant, another critic, was killed three 
years later in Los Angeles.

Stein said Thomas Drescher, a combat veteran who was convicted of murder in both
slayings, will testify he was told by Bhaktipada to kill the men.

Iredale said Bhaktipada never ordered any killings. In fact, Bhaktipada hired a 
former prosecutor to investigate the disappearance of St. Dennis after it was 
brought to his attention that a member of his community might have been 
responsible, Iredale said.

At its peak, the New Vrindaban community was so big that more than 30 
departments were established to oversee activities, Iredale said. Bhaktipada 
himself knew only one-fifth of the 700 members and was unaware of some 
activities, Iredale said.

As for the fund-raising activities, Bhaktipada had been advised that the sale of
trademarked and copyrighted logos was legal if it was for a religious 
organization and if the items differed slightly from the original, Iredale said.

Bhaktipada moved to West Virginia in 1968 to start the community, which 
eventually spread over 4,000 acres. It included a lavish Palace of Gold 
dedicated to the Indian swami, or teacher, who brought the religion to the 
United States.

The commune used to attract 250,000 tourists a year. But New Vrindaban declined 
after a series of events including the 1985 beating of Bhaktipada by a devotee 
who wanted to "cleanse the community." Bhaktipada and others were later 
indicted on a variety of federal charges.

Bhaktipada's community was excommunicated in 1987 by the International Society 
for Krishna Consciousness. The number of people living at New Vrindaban has 
dropped to about 200.

Bhaktipada, who walks with a cane because of the beating, has declined comment.

Iredale said he hoped the jurors had no preconceived notions about Krishnas.

"I hope that the prosecution will not equate strange beliefs with criminal 
activity," he said.

AP-WS-04-16-96 2102EDT


