HUMAN TRAFFICKING WATCH · DISPATCH
Forced-Labor Case Against a Church
A multi-state indictment alleges unpaid call centers, coercion and luxury spending as bond rulings split the two accused leaders.
Federal raids in Tampa and North Carolina culminated in a 10-count indictment alleging the Kingdom of God Global Church ran unpaid call centers across four states, coercing followers as millions flowed to luxury assets; one leader’s bond was denied, another’s granted.
Agents converged on a 28,000‑square‑foot mansion in Tampa’s Avila neighborhood and counted 57 people living and working inside; by day’s end, Michelle Brannon, the executive director of the Kingdom of God Global Church, had been taken into custody at the property, and David E. Taylor, the church’s leader, was arrested in Durham, North Carolina, as prosecutors unsealed a 10‑count indictment in the Eastern District of Michigan alleging a years‑long forced‑labor and money‑laundering scheme under the church’s banner, also known in filings as Joshua Media Ministries Inc. (FOX 13 Tampa Bay, n.d.; FOX 13 Tampa Bay, n.d.)
According to the indictment and associated affidavits, the organization operated donation call centers in Florida, Texas, Missouri and Michigan and compelled followers to work without pay, pressuring them to meet quotas as leadership enforced compliance through food and sleep deprivation, threats, and physical abuse; some workers, including minors, were housed in crowded rooms, garages, or on floors with limited bathroom access, while the fundraising apparatus generated roughly $50 million over the past decade, resources prosecutors say underwrote the leaders’ lifestyles rather than wages or care. (FOX 13 Tampa Bay, n.d.; FOX 13 Tampa Bay, n.d.)
In a Detroit courtroom, a federal judge denied bond for Taylor after prosecutors argued he directed a nationwide coercion network that used violence and deprivations to control parishioners, with Assistant U.S. Attorney Sarah Cohen telling the court that minors interviewed by the FBI corroborated forced‑labor practices and physical assaults; prosecutors further alleged sexual abuse and the retention of compromising images for blackmail, and, given the number of alleged victims and counts, said the exposure if convicted could amount to effective life imprisonment. (FOX 13 Tampa Bay, n.d.)
Brannon’s case diverged: a judge set a $10,000 bond with strict conditions — GPS monitoring, residence at a home in Northville, Michigan, no contact with Taylor or any alleged victim, surrender of her passport, and a requirement that within 30 days she prove the church or its associates are not paying her expenses — after weighing prosecutors’ warning that she had access to significant liquid assets and could influence witnesses, a warning grounded in searches that recovered an estimated $500,000 in gold bars, $60,000 in cash, foreign currency, high‑value jewelry, a delivery of life‑sized stone statues and pillars, and a fleet that included seven Mercedes‑Benz sedans and two Bentleys; from the bench, the judge remarked the organization appeared “much more like a cult,” even as release was granted. (FOX 13 Tampa Bay, n.d.; FOX 13 Tampa Bay, n.d.)
Around the case, former insiders and outside monitors filled in the texture of the allegations: Bridget Walton said her son returned home in 2022 after six years inside the ministry with no money and the language of someone who had been manipulated, while gospel singer Vicki Yohe, who has written about her own experience, called the arrests a victory for those without a voice; Leslie Portillo, who lived at the church’s Detroit ministry, described Taylor’s aggression and an environment she viewed as mentally and physically abusive, adding that a friend with cancer was kept from reconnecting with family while she worked; from the outside, Trinity Foundation investigators Barry Bowen and Pete Evans said they had long documented what they called slave‑like conditions, sent a 2019 report to the IRS urging criminal prosecution and loss of tax exemption, and believe more informants may yet come forward. (FOX 13 Tampa Bay, n.d.; FOX 13 Tampa Bay, n.d.)
The case now sits in Detroit, where Brannon faces proceedings in federal court and prosecutors continue to press their allegations of a decade of unpaid labor and financial crimes under the guise of ministry; authorities, who have targeted the Avila mansion and linked sites for forfeiture in Florida, Texas and Michigan, say the investigation remains active as additional witnesses are identified and interviewed, a dynamic that can reshape both the victim count and the timeline still to come — and for those needing help now, the National Human Trafficking Hotline is available at 1‑888‑373‑7888 or by texting 233733. (FOX 13 Tampa Bay, n.d.; FOX 13 Tampa Bay, n.d.)
Locations: Tampa, Avila neighborhood, Durham, Detroit, Michigan, Hillsborough County, Northville, Ocala
Tags: indictment, federal, labor, investigation, survivor