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FLDS Leader On The Run From Food Stamp Fraud Charges

FLDS leader Lyle Jeffs disappeared after being let out of jail two weeks ago.
Associated Press

FLDS leader Lyle Jeffs disappeared after being let out of jail two weeks ago.

Back in February, federal prosecutors indicted nearly a dozen members of a polygamous sect on the Utah-Arizona border.

The charges?

A multi-million dollar food stamp fraud case.

It’s a case that some said could destroy the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints because many of the churches’ leaders were involved.

One of those leaders included Lyle Jeffs, who has been running the FLDS church in place of the church's prophet Warren Jeffs. Warren Jeffs is serving a life sentence in Texas for the sexual assault of his 12- and 15-year-old brides. 

Two weeks ago, a federal judge let Lyle Jeffs out of jail, ordering him to wear a GPS monitor and stay at his home in Salt Lake City.

Now, Lyle Jeffs has fled his home, and is nowhere to be found.

Nate Carlisle, polygamy reporter with the Salt Lake Tribune, wrote about Lyle Jeffs absconding the law, and how some saw it coming. 

Because the crimes Jeffs is charged with are non-violent and he has no criminal record, Carlisle said the law was on his side. All of the co-defendants in the case have also been released and have so far complied with court orders. 

“Lyle had the law on his side but the law was never designed for a guy like Lyle,” he said, “A lot of people call the FLDS a criminal enterprise and a lot of people who are charged with two counts of fraud don’t have access to an entire criminal enterprise that could help them abscond.”

Carlisle said Jeffs has access to money, places to hide and loyal followers. He also helped his brother Warren while he was on the run.

Warren Jeffs was arrested outside of Las Vegas in 2006 after being on the run for several months. He had been on the FBI's Top Ten Most Wanted List. 

Carlisle said it is unlikely that Lyle Jeffs will make the list because he's not charged with a violent crime nor any of the sexual crimes that Warren Jeffs faced.

As for who will be directing the sect while Lyle Jeffs is on the run, Carlisle said that Warren Jeffs still directed the church when he was on the run, and it's likely his brother would do the same. 

 

Nate Carlisle, polygamy reporter, Salt Lake Tribune 

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Prior to taking on the role of Broadcast Operations Manager in January 2021, Rachel was the senior producer of KNPR's State of Nevada program for 6 years. She helped compile newscasts and provided coverage for and about the people of Southern Nevada, as well as major events such as the October 1 shooting on the Las Vegas strip, protests of racial injustice, elections and more. Rachel graduated with a bachelor's degree of journalism and mass communications from New Mexico State University.