NATION : Bias in Bakker Sentence Seen

RICHMOND, Va. — Fallen televangelist Jim Bakker was given an “unconscionably long” 45-year sentence from a biased judge who said he was tired of being a “sap for money-grubbing preachers,” attorneys for the PTL founder argued today before a federal appeals panel.

U.S. District Judge Robert Potter, who sentenced Bakker after a jury convicted him of bilking thousands of his followers, is nicknamed “Maximum Bob” for his harsh sentences. Bakker’s attorney, Harvard law Prof. Alan Dershowitz, argued that “Judge Potter is one of the reasons” that federal sentencing guidelines were drawn up in 1987.