One of the leaders of alleged church forced labor scheme granted bond

DETROIT - The executive director of an alleged forced labor and money laundering operation that was disguised as a church was granted bond.

Michelle Brannon is facing charges of forced labor, conspiracy to commit forced labor and conspiracy to commit money laundering.

Federal investigators say she and her co-defendant, David Taylor, lead the Kingdom of God Global Church, formerly known as Joshua Media Ministries Inc.

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The backstory:

In August, the FBI raided multiple properties around the country associated with the KOGCC, including one alleged call center inside a mansion in the affluent Avila neighborhood in Hillsborough County.

Brannon was arrested at the Avila mansion, where she was reportedly living. Taylor was arrested in North Carolina.

Both are facing a 10-count federal indictment in eastern Michigan where the church is headquartered.

According to the indictment, the "workers" inside these centers were denied food, sleep and medical care, and were threatened with violence and psychological humiliation. It alleges that the workers were not paid and pressured into relentlessly soliciting donations that generated about $50 million over the last decade.

Court documents also listed items authorities found in Bannon’s bedroom, including an estimated $500,000 in gold bars; $60,000 in cash; valuable jewelry from a locked safe in a closet; designer clothing and purses; and foreign currency.

Authorities also discovered "multiple recently delivered life-sized expensive stone statues and decorative pillars for landscape installation on the property grounds, seven Mercedes-Benz sedans and two Bentley sedans."

In court documents filed this week, there were 57 people inside the Avila mansion when it was raided and Brannon was arrested.

Brannon was transferred from the Pinellas County Jail to Michigan to face the charges against her.

She had a detention hearing on Tuesday, where federal prosecutors asked the judge to hold her in jail until her trial.

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"Michelle Brannon was the lieutenant general of David Taylor's brutal regime," a federal prosecutor said. "According to the evidence, she literally is a serial sadist, who engaged in physical and psychological torture."

Cameras are not allowed in federal court, but audio recordings documented the hearing where federal prosecutors compared releasing Brannon on bond to releasing the lieutenant general of war back into battle.

"Brannon was the lead enforcer of JMMI and KOGGC, not the mere victim of David Taylor," the prosecutor said. "Brannon was particularly known for dramatic punishment called rebuking."

Prosecutors say Brannon was in charge of the organization's finances.

"She was given this position of trust by Taylor, in part, because she was best at manipulating callers into giving donations," the prosecutor said. "She was so good, she was called the top closer."

Prosecutors also read several texts Brannon reportedly sent threatening to take away meals from workers and punish them for not raising enough money.

"There has not been any evidence presented to me from my point of view that one of them received any physical harm that caused them to do any particular thing," Brannon's attorney said.

The defense also referenced a group of Brannon's supporters who were in the courtroom.

"There were no walls around any of these call centers," Brannon's attorney said. "There was there was freedom to exercise one's right to leave at any point in time."

Her attorney also said her passport was seized, and she doesn't have access to the church's assets.

After a lengthy hearing, the judge said the church 'seems much more like a cult', but believed there were reasonable conditions of release that could be put in place for Brannon.

"Anyone that would be involved in any way in treating people the way that is alleged in this indictment is reprehensible," the judge said. "But they're only allegations."

Federal prosecutors raised concerns over Brannon's ability to disconnect from all contacts associated with the church, since she's been involved for more than a decade.

"There isn't a person that Brannon can be with who is disassociated from this criminal organization," the prosecutor said.

The judge granted Brannon a $10,000 bond with a lengthy list of conditions if she's released.

What's next:

If Brannon bonds out of jail, she has to report to a pre-trial services agency and surrender her passport, which her attorney says was already seized. She's also ordered to have no contact with Taylor, any victims, witnesses or people associated with the church.

Brannon is ordered to stay at a home in Northville, Michigan, which was originally paid for by current church members. The judge says she has 30 days to ensure that the church and its associates aren't paying for her living expenses.

If released, Brannon will be required to wear GPS monitoring and cannot leave the eastern district of Michigan.

Prosecutors say they're in the process of seizing the Avila mansion, in addition to properties in Ocala, Florida, Houston Texas, Taylor, Michigan and several properties in Missouri.

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