Jim and Tammy Faye Bakker were once enormously successful atraising money for their televised religious programs. After its1974 debut, their cable show became the highest-ratedreligious show in the country. In the 1980s, the Bakkerscontinued their success by building Heritage USA, afirst-of-its-kind 2,200-acre Christian resort and amusementpark, but the government would charge that Bakker had securedfunding by defrauding his faithful viewers. In 1989, he wasconvicted and initially sentenced to 45 years in prison butultimately only served five. In 2021, prosecutors claimed thatBakker was once again up to his old tricks but this timewithout Tammy Faye. They said he made promises on "The JimBakker Show" that his "Silver Solution" was a cure for thecoronavirus; however, instead of a miracle, they saiddrinking silver could be toxic and even turn consumerspermanently blue in the face if consumed in large quantities.The FDA immediately issued a cease-and-desist order while thestates of Missouri and Arkansas sued him for his false claims.Bakker entered a settlement agreement promising not to sell thesolution anymore but continued to deny wrongdoing.
