A lawyer for Bishop Anthony Jinwright filed papers in federal court this month denying that his client is a flight risk or a “threat to anyone’s economic safety.”

Responding to documents filed June 8 by federal prosecutors, attorney Ed Hinson said Jinwright has “spiritual, emotional and familial” ties to the Charlotte region and therefore is unlikely to flee if released from jail on bond.

Jinwright, senior pastor of Greater Salem City of God, has been detained in the Mecklenburg jail since the night of May 3, immediately after a jury convicted him on six counts of tax evasion, six counts of filing a false tax return and one count of conspiracy to defraud the IRS.

Federal prosecutors have opposed his request to be released on bond pending sentencing, which is expected later this year.

In his decision to jail the 56-year-old preacher, Whitney did not classify Jinwright as a flight risk but ruled that he did pose an economic threat to the community -– in other words, that he might continue to draw undue compensation from Greater Salem.

In his petition for release, Jinwright said that, among other thing, efforts to sell his funeral home businesses to pay federal taxes are being hampered by his early incarceration.

“From all we read about deficits,” Hinson wrote, “the government could use the money.”

An IRS agent estimated during Jinwright’s trial that he and his wife Harriet, who also was convicted on tax-related charges, may owe the federal government more than $600,000 in back taxes.

In a separate filing, D. Brooks Cowles, a broker specializing in the sale of funeral homes, signed an affidavit stating that his efforts to sell Jinwright’s two funeral home businesses have been “very difficult… without direct communication with the managing owners.

Cowles said he was retained in February to find a buyer for A.L. Jinwright Funeral Service Inc. and A.L. Jinwright Funeral Services II Inc.

“As we go forward,” Cowles said, “it will be very difficult to engage in detailed discussions with potential buyers without being able to directly engage Bishop Anthony Jinwright in the discussions and negotiations… I believe that direct access for me and potential buyers to Bishop Anthony Jinwright is necessary to achieve maximum sale value for these firms.”

Jinwright’s lawyer said the preacher’s release on bond also would allow him to continue his ministry – assuming Greater Salem wants his continued services.

“As was obvious from numerous witnesses at trial, he has been and can be of enormous spiritual benefit to others,” Hinson wrote.

In addressing prosecutors’ concerns that Jinwright might flee, Hinson said his client has surrendered his passport and has no substantial assets.

“The government says he has received money -- yet it knows he spent this money and has acquired no substantial savings or assets,” Hinson wrote. “The only assets of any potential significant value are the funeral homes, and he needs to be out in order to manage and market those assets or they will be worthless.”

Hinson said Jinwright’s incarceration also “obviously affects Jinwright’s and the church’s exercise of their First Amendment rights.”

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