SULLIVAN, Ind. (AP) - A judge has ruled that the criminal cases against a former pastor and his sons charged with bilking church members nationwide out of millions of dollars will be split up among three southwestern Indiana counties.

Sixty-five-year-old Vaughn Reeves and his three sons have pleaded not guilty to charges that they duped about 11,000 people into buying bonds worth $120 million for church construction projects, diverting money from new investments to pay off previous investors and pocketing about $6 million.

Special Judge Dena Martin ruled that jurors for the cases would come from outside Sullivan County, where the Reeves' company called Alanar Inc. was based. Martin on Friday designated nearby Gibson
County for Vaughn Reeves and one of his sons, with Daviess County
and Martin County for the other two sons.

(Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

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