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Outside of religious circles, however, Bakker may be best known for his meteoric fall from grace.  Bakker was accused of offering a $265,000 [[bribe]] to a secretary in the ministry to cover up their adulterous affair.  He was also tried and convicted on charges of fraud, tax evasion, and racketeering, stemming from his involvement in several illegal financial transactions during the construction of Heritage USA.<ref>[http://www.rickross.com/groups/bakker.html Rick Ross Institute: Information on PTL Club]</ref>

Outside of religious circles, however, Bakker may be best known for his meteoric fall from grace.  Bakker was accused of offering a $265,000 [[bribe]] to a secretary in the ministry to cover up their adulterous affair.  He was also tried and convicted on charges of fraud, tax evasion, and racketeering, stemming from his involvement in several illegal financial transactions during the construction of Heritage USA.<ref>[http://www.rickross.com/groups/bakker.html Rick Ross Institute: Information on PTL Club]</ref>

Following the scandal, Bakker was the subject of intense backlash in the Christian broadcasting community, with [[Jerry Falwell]] calling PTL a "religious soap opera" and [[Jimmy Swaggart]] calling Bakker "a cancer in the body of Christ." (Many commentators have noted the irony in this statement, as Swaggart himself was later defrocked for his alleged extramarital engagements with a prostitute.){{fact}} Nevertheless, following his parole for good behavior in 1993, Bakker has been able to find forgiveness in the Christian community. He has published an autobiography entitled ''I Was Wrong'', and in 2003, he began broadcasting again with ''The New Jim Bakker Show''<ref>[http://www.nndb.com/people/061/000023989/ NNDB: Jim Bakker]</ref>.

Following the scandal, Bakker was the subject of intense backlash in the Christian broadcasting community, with [[Jerry Falwell]] calling PTL a "religious soap opera" and [[Jimmy Swaggart]] calling Bakker "a cancer in the body of Christ." (Many commentators have noted the irony in this statement, as Swaggart himself was later defrocked for his alleged extramarital engagements with a prostitute.)<ref>http://www.ky3.com/news/local/17305559.html</ref> Nevertheless, following his parole for good behavior in 1993, Bakker has been able to find forgiveness in the Christian community. He has published an autobiography entitled ''I Was Wrong'', and in 2003, he began broadcasting again with ''The New Jim Bakker Show''<ref>[http://www.nndb.com/people/061/000023989/ NNDB: Jim Bakker]</ref>.

==References==

==References==