TV EVANGELIST DEAD: Jim Bakker, PTL Club Founder, Dies at 86...

Jim Bakker, who built the PTL Club into a multimillion-dollar television empire before a 1989 conviction for fraud and conspiracy over his handling of ministry donations sent him to prison for nearly five years, has died at 86. His fall from prominence marked one of the most dramatic downfalls in American evangelical history, though he later attempted comebacks through online ministry and survivalist product sales.