Trial for mission founder begins

The felony tax evasion trial of the founder of a Christian mission in North Charleston kicked off Monday with a state prosecutor charging that hundreds of thousands of dollars in income never was reported.

Albert J. Salmon, founder of the Good Samaritan Mission, faces five felony counts, including allegations that he claimed to have a negative balance over a four-year period when investigators said large sums of money were going into his bank accounts.

"The law says you have to pay taxes. Period," Assistant Attorney General Tom McDermott told jurors as part of his opening remarks inside the Charleston County Judicial Center.

Salmon's attorney countered that his client never fabricated a document or worked to defeat paying taxes. Additionally, defense attorney Bill Runyon said Salmon was involved in a noble pursuit that included "feeding the hungry and trying to house the homeless as best he could."

Salmon, 61, is charged with four counts of felony tax evasion covering the tax years from 1999 to 2002 and one count of breach of trust over $5,000. He's accused of selling a piece of charity property and taking the proceeds instead of giving it back to the charity.

"Mr. Salmon, although he ran the charity, is not the charity," McDermott said. Not forwarding the money, "that's the breach of trust," he said.

Salmon founded the Christian mission more than 25 years ago on Cochise Street in the troubled southern end of North Charleston.

An investigation by The Post and Courier of the mission's finances triggered a two-year probe by state regulators that culminated with Salmon's arrest on charges that included failing to report more than $600,000 in taxable income.

Salmon was indicted in June 2006, but his trial had been put off, in part, because one of the prosecutors involved had been deployed to Iraq and by the complicated nature of the investigation.

The trial is expected to last several days.

Each evasion charge can draw up to five years in prison, while the breach of trust case can draw up to 10 years, if convicted.