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Jeffs indicted for his time on the run
The Associated Press
Issue date: 3/8/07 Section: News
SALT LAKE CITY - A federal grand jury indicted the leader of a polygamous sect Wednesday, accusing him of fleeing to avoid prosecution on Utah sex charges during a manhunt that ended with his arrest near Las Vegas.
The one-count indictment covers a five-month period in 2006, although Warren Jeffs was believed to be on the run for a longer stretch.
Separately, he faces trial in southern Utah in April on charges of rape as an accomplice for his alleged role in the ceremonial marriage of a teenage girl to an older cousin.
Jeffs is president of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, whose members practice polygamy and live on the Utah-Arizona border.
While on the FBI's Ten Most Wanted List, he was arrested Aug. 28 during a traffic stop near Las Vegas.
Jeffs disappeared from public life in 2004 after lawsuits filed against him and his church alleged abuses of some members. Criminal charges in Arizona and Utah followed in 2005 and 2006.
To help in the search for Jeffs, federal prosecutors filed an arrest warrant against him on April 5, 2006, the same day that Washington County prosecutors charged him with two felony counts of rape as an accomplice.
Federal charges tied to such warrants typically are dropped once a suspect is caught and transferred to state authorities.
But U.S. Attorney Brett Tolman said Jeffs' power and influence in his community, especially over young women who often are placed in arranged marriages to older men, make the case different from most.
Tolman noted that Jeffs was found in a Cadillac Escalade with more than $57,000, satellite devices, cell phones, prepaid credit cards, wigs and sunglasses.
"I believe this is the very type of flight to avoid prosecution that is worthy of a federal indictment," the prosecutor said at a news conference.
Tolman also pointed to the time and resources expended by state, local and federal authorities in trying to find Jeffs.
The one-count indictment covers a five-month period in 2006, although Warren Jeffs was believed to be on the run for a longer stretch.
Separately, he faces trial in southern Utah in April on charges of rape as an accomplice for his alleged role in the ceremonial marriage of a teenage girl to an older cousin.
Jeffs is president of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, whose members practice polygamy and live on the Utah-Arizona border.
While on the FBI's Ten Most Wanted List, he was arrested Aug. 28 during a traffic stop near Las Vegas.
Jeffs disappeared from public life in 2004 after lawsuits filed against him and his church alleged abuses of some members. Criminal charges in Arizona and Utah followed in 2005 and 2006.
To help in the search for Jeffs, federal prosecutors filed an arrest warrant against him on April 5, 2006, the same day that Washington County prosecutors charged him with two felony counts of rape as an accomplice.
Federal charges tied to such warrants typically are dropped once a suspect is caught and transferred to state authorities.
But U.S. Attorney Brett Tolman said Jeffs' power and influence in his community, especially over young women who often are placed in arranged marriages to older men, make the case different from most.
Tolman noted that Jeffs was found in a Cadillac Escalade with more than $57,000, satellite devices, cell phones, prepaid credit cards, wigs and sunglasses.
"I believe this is the very type of flight to avoid prosecution that is worthy of a federal indictment," the prosecutor said at a news conference.
Tolman also pointed to the time and resources expended by state, local and federal authorities in trying to find Jeffs.
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