Tuesday, an Order was entered into the court records from US Magistrate Judge W. Carleton Metcalf on the Motion to Quash submitted by attorneys for Jones Road, LLC- the production company for the A&E series “The Devil Next Door.” This is a show about ex-members of WOFF and their struggles. Judge Metcalf ruled in favor of the Motion.

Six ex-members of Word of Fellowship (WOFF) became an interest to Amos Tyndall, the attorney for WOFF member Diane McKinny. He filed subpoenas seeking information on the contracts between Jones Road and these participants, amounts of compensation and the timing of these events. He said that by knowing this information, he could determine if these potential witnesses were biased.

Tyndall will have to wait for another day or find another way.

In his Order, Judge Metcalf included many of the known facts around this case. Dianne McKinny has been indicted on one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and a second count of issuing materially false statements to investigators in April 2018.

In brief, the Judge wrote, “… the record does not contain, nor has the Defendant sought, confirmation that any information provided by the witnesses (ex-members) to Jones Road relate to Defendant’s alleged conduct and the specific subject matter of the Superseding Bill of Indictment, as opposed to the religious group (WOFF) itself.”

It is important to note the Judge did not prohibit McKinny’s attorney from seeking the information at trial during cross-examination. For now, it is not deemed relevant.

The fishing trip has been cancelled for now.

So where do we go from here?

WOFF Members: Consider what does your future hold?

I pose the question after taking a step back and considering the plight of Dr. Jerry Gross. Is it plausible and likely that when he and his wife moved to NC from the Midwest several years ago, he had no idea that by 2018 he would plead guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud? I believe that is a safe assumption.

Who willingly joins a group knowing that in about 20 years, your membership in that group will put you at the center of a Federal fraud investigation? No, I don’t believe Jerry considered that outcome. He and his wife were just “moving into the will of God…” They had no idea that joining WOFF and coming under JW’s leadership would have them facing the winter of their years with the reality of Jerry and their son, Jason, awaiting sentencing from a Federal Judge.

I believe the mindset to agree to commit this fraud was formed gradually. We heard it preached over and over, a person doesn’t wake up one morning and become a bank robber. It is in their thoughts, adding one at a time, which allows the person to consider robbing a bank.

Jerry didn’t wake up in one day and decide to cheat the State of NC and the US Government out of thousands of dollars. He wanted to serve God and somehow by serving God he wound up cheating the tax-payers that he served at his medical practice. Where did this all go wrong for Jerry, his son Jason and Kent Covington? All three have pleaded guilty to their crimes.

This unrighteous scheme was cloaked in spiritual terms and euphemisms to relieve any uneasiness in their hearts. They were so conditioned to obey first and shove the doubts away, and look what that pattern cost them.

WOFF Members: Is your future just as uncertain?

Where will you end up in the years to come? Will you be lead down an even more surreal path? What “schemes” will you be required to perform in order to keep your place “among God’s people”?

There is a real possibility that Jerry, Jason and Kent will find themselves one day soon living among the prisoners and not “in the midst of God’s people.”

Do you want to join them? How can you stop the progression to lawlessness that has been set on course inside WOFF?

Unrighteous deeds were hailed as righteous. It was not the first time and certainly will not be the last.

Are you so certain you could withstand the pressures that the three guilty ones succumbed to?

I believe they believed, at least at the beginning, they were in the will of God.

It may seem like an unreal choice to make. However, you must consider your future. If this level of lawlessness was called “the will of God”- where will the deception stop?

Protect your future and consider a path into a different life. The choices you make in the next few days and weeks will affect you for many years. Choose wisely.

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Thank you, for taking time to visit and read this blog. Please, consume the information on this site responsibly. The author is not a licensed mental health professional and encourages those that need professional help to seek it. The intent of the material is to inform and be a resource. Be sure to tell every member that you know at WOFF about this blog. There are readers at WOFF. Jane told me and Josh confirmed it.

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(Copyright © 1954, 1958, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1987 by The Lockman Foundation ) This is post number 655.