China - Prison for Preachers - NYTimes.com The Chinese authorities have sentenced to prison seven underground church leaders who were arrested last April and charged with belonging to an illegal cult, according to a Christian rights group. The preachers, who officiated illegal Pentecostal congregations in Henan Province, were given terms from three to seven-and-a-half years, according to court documents released by ChinaAid, a Texas-based group. The verdicts were issued by the Ye County People's Court on April 1, but lawyers for the four women and three men said they were not notified until last week.