Henry J. Lyons (born 1942) is a former president of the National Baptist Convention, USA, Inc. who was indicted by federal prosecutors in 1998 for fraud, extortion, money laundering, conspiracy and tax evasion.

Early life

Lyons was raised by his grandfather, a

Deacon A deacon is a member of the diaconate, an office in Christian churches that is generally associated with service of some kind, but which varies among theological and denominational traditions. Major Christian churches, such as the Catholic Chur ...

named Booker T. Lyons. His own father, who was only 16 when Henry was born, played a minimal role in his childhood. He attended

Gibbs Junior College Gibbs Junior College was created in 1957 by the Pinellas County Board of Public Instruction to serve African-American students in St. Petersburg, Florida. It was the first and most successful of Florida's eleven new African-American junior colleg ...

in St. Petersburg, Florida (1960–62) and studied at Bethune-Cookman College in

Daytona Beach Daytona Beach, or simply Daytona, is a coastal resort-city in east-central Florida. Located on the eastern edge of Volusia County near the Atlantic coastline, its population was 72,647 at the 2020 census. Daytona Beach is approximately nort ...

(1962–64) and then entered the Interdenominational Theological Center in

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,7 ...

. In 1970, he moved to

Cincinnati Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line w ...

and in 1972 he gained a more important position in St. Petersburg, Florida. He married Deborah Lyons in the 1970s. In 1977 he became Vice President of the Florida General Baptist Convention, and was then its President from 1981 to 1994. In 1994, Lyons became President of the National Baptist Convention USA Inc.

Presidency of the National Baptist Convention

Always a charismatic speaker, the Lyons tenure featured much activity. He established a Unified Program, reduced the debt on the Baptist World Center, and dissolved the debt on the Sunday School Publishing Board. In addition, many commissions were added to the convention. He pledged to "raise a standard" and overcome the difficulties caused by his predecessor

T. J. Jemison Theodore Judson Jemison (August 1, 1918 – November 15, 2013), better known as T. J. Jemison, was the president of the National Baptist Convention, USA, Inc. from 1982 to 1994. It is the largest African-American religious organization. He oversa ...

's support of

Mike Tyson Michael Gerard Tyson (born June 30, 1966) is an American former professional boxer who competed from 1985 to 2005. Nicknamed "Iron Mike" and "Kid Dynamite" in his early career, and later known as "The Baddest Man on the Planet", Tyson is con ...

in his rape case. However, in many respects he would exacerbate, rather than diminish, the difficulties of the organization.

Personal and legal difficulties

In February 1998 he was charged with one count of

racketeering Racketeering is a type of organized crime in which the perpetrators set up a coercive, fraudulent, extortionary, or otherwise illegal coordinated scheme or operation (a "racket") to repeatedly or consistently collect a profit. Originally and ...

and two counts of

grand theft Theft is the act of taking another person's property or services without that person's permission or consent with the intent to deprive the rightful owner of it. The word ''theft'' is also used as a synonym or informal shorthand term for some ...

, and in summer 1998 he was indicted by federal prosecutors for

fraud In law, fraud is intentional deception to secure unfair or unlawful gain, or to deprive a victim of a legal right. Fraud can violate civil law (e.g., a fraud victim may sue the fraud perpetrator to avoid the fraud or recover monetary compen ...

extortion Extortion is the practice of obtaining benefit through coercion. In most jurisdictions it is likely to constitute a criminal offence; the bulk of this article deals with such cases. Robbery is the simplest and most common form of extortion, ...

money laundering Money laundering is the process of concealing the origin of money, obtained from illicit activities such as drug trafficking, corruption, embezzlement or gambling, by converting it into a legitimate source. It is a crime in many jurisdicti ...

conspiracy A conspiracy, also known as a plot, is a secret plan or agreement between persons (called conspirers or conspirators) for an unlawful or harmful purpose, such as murder or treason, especially with political motivation, while keeping their agr ...

and

tax evasion Tax evasion is an illegal attempt to defeat the imposition of taxes by individuals, corporations, trusts, and others. Tax evasion often entails the deliberate misrepresentation of the taxpayer's affairs to the tax authorities to reduce the tax ...

.Imprisoned Minister Lyons and Wife Divorcing

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Rev. Henry Lyons denies having an affair or misusing church funds - president of the National Baptist Convention USA , Jet , Find Articles at BNET.com
/ref> He initially protested his innocence and claimed there was a racial motivation for the charges, but the proceedings of his trial and his eventual

plea bargain A plea bargain (also plea agreement or plea deal) is an agreement in criminal law proceedings, whereby the prosecutor provides a concession to the defendant in exchange for a plea of guilt or ''nolo contendere.'' This may mean that the defendant ...

ing agreement dampened the enthusiasm of those who maintained his innocence. In 1999 Lyons was sentenced to a total of five and a half years in jail for misappropriating more than $4 million from the NBC while he was its President, a post from which he had already resigned. In November 2003, he was released on

probation Probation in criminal law is a period of supervision over an offender, ordered by the court often in lieu of incarceration. In some jurisdictions, the term ''probation'' applies only to community sentences (alternatives to incarceration), such ...

and returned to preaching in St Petersburg. He currently is the pastor of the New Salem Missionary Baptist Church in

Tampa, Florida Tampa () is a city on the Gulf Coast of the U.S. state of Florida. The city's borders include the north shore of Tampa Bay and the east shore of Old Tampa Bay. Tampa is the largest city in the Tampa Bay area and the seat of Hillsborough ...

. On June 15, 2017 Lyons was forced out of his position by the board of trustees, mid accusations of theft, misconduct. In April 2007 Lyons was defeated in an attempt to be re-elected President of the Florida General Baptist Convention. Subsequently, he and his supporters organized the General Baptist State Convention of Florida, of which he is the President. In 2009, he was defeated in his bid to take presidency of the National Baptist Convention, USA.Ousted Baptist Leader Loses Bid
''New York Times'', 2009/09/11

References

External links

National Baptist Convention USA history page
* ttp://www.sptimes.com/lyons_special/ SPTimes special article on the Lyons casebr>Court TV on his trialCNN article on his release
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lyons, Henry 1942 births Living people People from Volusia County, Florida Clergy of historically African-American Christian denominations American money launderers National Baptist Convention, USA ministers Protestant religious leaders convicted of crimes Members of the clergy convicted of fraud American members of the clergy convicted of crimes 21st-century African-American people 20th-century African-American people