Al4 - The Terrace Standard, Wednesday, February 16, 2000

RELIGIOUS BROADCASTER Bryan Richards lied week for illegally living in Canada and deported to
the United States, where there are warrants for his

about his name and age,

and RCMP don't believe

he was an ordained minister. He was arrested last

arrest. He also owes money to people in Smithers.

S5roadcaster busted

and then deported

By ALEX HAMILTON
RELIGIOUS radio broad-
caster Bryan Allen Ri-
chards, who spread posi-
tive Christian themes on
the Terrace radio show
Christian Power Hour, ap-
parently didn’t practice
what he preached.

Richards, 48, who pro-
claimed he was an or-
dained minister with the
Assemblies of God, was
arrested and deported Feb.
9 to the United States,
‘where he’s wanted for as-
sault and three counts of
fraud.

Smithers RCMP disco-
vered last week that US-
born Richards was an ille-
gal immigrant living in
Smithers under an alias.
While in custody, finger-
“print records revealed
“Bryan Richards’ real name
is Richard Bryan Minard,
who is wanted in the
States on charges dating
back to 1993,

RCMP in Smithers dis-
covered Richards’ past
earlier this month when an
a local private investigator
was hired to find the
“minister.”

Smithers’ RCMP Cpl.
Pete Henszel said the pri-
vate investigator was hired
by a number of U.S. resi-
dents who claim Richards
had swindled money from
- them.

Smithers RCMP were
immediately suspicious of
Richards, .

“He purported to be a
person of the cloth and the
kind of behaviour that this
investigator was Jooking at
certainly didn't suggest a
man of the cloth,” Cpl.
Henszel said.

Police
notice

TERRACE RCMP are ask-
ing for the public’s assisi-
tance with a robbery of the
Keith Avenue Video Up-
date store,

At about 5 am Oct. 30,
1999 ihieves entered the
Keith Avenue store and
stole 17 Sony Playstation
video games, 15 Nintendo
64 game cartridges, nine
Nintendo 64 game control-
lers and 10 Sony Playstation
game controllers.

The dollar value is be-
lieved to more than $3,659.

One of the thieves is be-
lieved to be male, wearing a
light jacket. The other wore
a dark jacket and a back-
wards baseball cap. He may
have also worn a mask.

RCMP ask anyone who
saw two males in the area
early that day to call Crime
Stoppers at 635-8477.

Crime Stoppers offers a
cash reward of $1,000 for
information to the arrest and
charges being laid of this or
any unsolved crime.

Callers will not be asked
to reveal their idenlity or
lestify in court. Crime Stap-
pers does not subscribe to
call display.

When Henszel checked
with Canadian immigra-
tion officers about Ri-
chards’ status, he disco-
vered the broadcaster had
overstayed his visitor’s
visa and was living in
Smithers illegally.

He was arrested Feb, 6
for overstaying his visitor
privileges under the Immi-
gration Act,

Henszel doubts Ri-
chards was an ordained
minister,

“It was just something
he purported,” Henszel
said. “He spoke a lot about
God but I never saw any
documentation [to prove
he was ordained].

He added: “He’s ob-

viously got a criminal
background and that’s cer-
tainly not what he was
suggesting to us in conver-
sation around Smithers.”

Although Richards was
a popular person around
Smithers, Henszel said
some local residents had
mixed feelings about him.

“Some people thought
he was a great guy while
others were highly suspi-
cious of him.”

A number of Smithers
residents have since repor-
ted to police that Richards
wrote bogus cheques and
failed to pay bills for mer-
chandise like airline tick-
els.

Rod Sterling, radio
Manager at Okanagan
Skeena Group, the Terrace
radio station that broadcast
Richards’ show Christian
Power Hour, said he was

surprised to learn about the

man’s sordid past.

“He seemed very reli-
gious,” Sterling said.

Richards was never an
employee with OSG, he
simply bought radio hours
to produce his show,

Christian. Power Hour
show ran Sunday nights
from 6:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.
from July until mid De-
cember, when Richards
said he wanted to take a
break until January.

IMPORTANT NOTICE TO ALL REFORM PARTY OF CANADA MEMBERS

Information meetings on the proposed amalgamation with the
Canadian Reform-Conservative Alliance
will be held at the following locations:

Kitlmat- Riverlodge Activity Room- 7:30 pm Thursday, February 17
Prince Rupert ~ Coast Prince Rupert Holel 7:00 pm Friday, February 18
Smithers ~ Hudson Bay Lodge, Driftwcod Room- = 1:30 pm Saturday, February 19
Terrace ~ Skeena Valley Golf Club 2:00 pm Sunday, February 20

Although this meeting is primarily for Reformer Party members, other interested
persons are encouraged to attend,

The speaker will be your M.P. Mike Scott.

TRATNING =

DEADLINE FOR SUBMISSIONS MARCH 17, 2000

The BC Festival of the Arts provides
inspiring experiences for emerging artists
from agross BC. Bach year master mentors

Theatre Avtists
Visual Artists ; |, ;
7 provide workshop and training opportuni-
ties to over BO setected delegates: of diverse.”
: “disciplines, and cultures, ‘Submit it youir wor ke
: Take your place.”

ideo) Fil monuikers
Song Wii riter s

“Wor ta Mrsivi fans. a Ror infiemation and submission he
s. guidelines check aur website av

. Fil Act ors www, hcfestivalofihearts. hese ca or:

. Wi ‘Her 5 ‘cate Us. als.
‘ne Festival af the ‘Arts: Se, :
#200 =764 Yates $1... Vietoria, BC vaw ie
ph: (250) 920-4118."

fax: (250) 356-0092

infomrbefestinnalostheur tS, He, eu

000g

- may 26 june 3 2 wat
“nelson, BC fs
}

Ben MseCosham
Vea tines

Awe . =" PRE YAMAHA

BC Newspaper Casey