EUGENE -- A preacher whose studies persuaded him to quit paying taxes has failed to show up for sentencing on charges he evaded $1.2 million worth of them.

The Eugene Register-Guard reports that Ronald and Dorothea Joling were supposed to be in federal court Wednesday morning.

Prosecutors were prepared to recommend that the 71-year-old pastor from Coquille serve 10 years and his wife five.

They were convicted last year of conspiracy to defraud the government. Ronald Joling was also convicted of tax evasion and filing false returns.

Judge Ann Aiken approved warrants for their arrest.

Ronald Joling testified he stopped paying income taxes in the early 1990s after concluding the tax laws don't apply to him. His wife said she was following his direction.

-- The Associated Press