Nation IN BRIEF : NORTH CAROLINA : Bakker Reportedly Denied Early Release

Jim Bakker, founder of the now-defunct PTL ministry, has been denied early release from a federal prison, where he is serving an eight-year sentence for bilking 116,000 followers out of $158 million, his attorney in Hendersonville, N.C., said. The fallen television evangelist, who was convicted in October, 1989, asked a parole hearing last month in Rochester, Minn., where he is serving an eight-year sentence, to be released early so he could be with his family. One of Bakker’s attorneys, Jim Toms, said the parole board examiners who heard the appeal recommended early release, but the full federal parole commission decided against it. His next step will be to appeal to the commission.