HOUSTON – A federal investigation is underway Wednesday morning at a northwest Houston property identified as a campus for Joshua Media Ministries International (JMMI).
According to JMMI’s website, the ministry is based in Taylor, Michigan, and led by David E. Taylor, 53, who was arrested earlier in the day along with Michelle Brannon, 56.
The U.S. Department of Justice described the arrests as part of a nationwide takedown of what prosecutors called a “forced labor organization” involving money laundering and victimizing individuals through physical and psychological abuse.
Court records show Taylor and Brannon are leaders of the Kingdom of God Global Church (KOGGC), formerly known as JMMI. Taylor referred to himself as an “Apostle” and “Jesus’s best friend,” claiming to have had “multiple face-to-face encounters with God” and that “God has given him the keys to the Kingdom on Earth.”
Through call centers across the country, including in Missouri, Florida, and Texas, prosecutors allege Taylor and his executive director, Brannon, recruited unpaid solicitors to raise money from donors to support the ministry’s operations. One of those centers, investigators say, was located along the North Freeway at a site that previously operated as a hotel.
The indictment claims that since 2014, KOGGC has received nearly $50 million in donations each year, including funds spent on homes, airline tickets, cars, and luxury goods. Court records also allege Taylor recruited individuals to work as his “armor bearers” — personal attendants who provided food, transportation, and at times brought women from ministry houses, airports, and other locations to him, ensuring they took “Plan B emergency contraceptives.”
Like the call center workers, investigators said the armor bearers were unpaid but still subject to punishment if they disobeyed an order. Court documents describe consequences such as humiliation, sleep deprivation, forced “repentance,” additional work, food restrictions, physical assaults, and threats of divine judgment in the form of “sickness, accidents, death, and eternal damnation.”
Charging documents also state, “Taylor regularly claims that if an individual fails to obey his orders and commands, they are defying God and will suffer in Hell.”
Taylor is expected to appear in court in Durham, North Carolina, while Brannon will face a judge in Tampa, Florida. If convicted, they could face up to 20 years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000 on forced labor and money laundering charges.