FLDS sect leader Lyle Steed Jeffs’ stint on the lam came to close when he was captured Wednesday night in South Dakota when the FBI arrested him. The 57-year-old polygamous sect leader went on the run nearly a year ago after removing an ankle monitor. He was slated for trial on food stamp fraud charges, accused in a $12 million scheme.
Jeffs is a leader of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, was caught by the FBI at approximately 8:30 Wednesday night. He is being held without bond in the Minnehaha County Jail in Sioux Falls, SD.
He was on the run since June 18, 2016. After using olive old to slide off his GPS ankle monitor during home confinement while awaiting trial for his alleged role in a food stamp fraud scheme, he disappeared from Salt Lake City, UT.
Alleged conspiracy to defraud food stamps program and launder money
Jeffs and ten additional sect members were accused of converting food stamp benefits to cash. A United States District Judge approved supervised home release June 9, 2016, though the FBI and federal prosecutors fought to have him remain jailed until his trial in October 2016.
Not long after Jeffs disappeared, the FBI issued a warrant for his arrest, as well as a $50,000 reward. He was featured on a wanted poster stating that he could be armed and dangerous.
If the name Jeffs seems familiar, it may be because he is the brother of Warren Jeffs, the polygamous sect’s prophet, who is imprisoned in Texas and serving a life sentence for raping girls he claimed to be his brides.
Of the ten people charged, along with Jeffs, in the multi-million dollar food stamp benefit fraud scheme, nine of those people accepted pleas agreements.
Charges were dismissed against one of the people.
The fraud scheme, according to prosecutors, operated by Jeffs and other leaders instructing sect followers to purchase items with food stamp cards, then, give to an FLDS warehouse. Leaders would determine distribution to supporters.
Prosecutors also contend that sect-owned stores cashed food stamps and card holders received nothing in exchange.
The funds garnered were, then, diverted to “front” companies for purchasing thousands of dollars in items such as a tractor and a truck.
Jeffs and the other defendants claimed that they were sharing food and that it was a facet of their communal living. In February 2016, he entered not guilty pleas to money laundering and conspiring to defraud the federal government’s Supplement Nutrition Assistance Program, also known as SNAP.
Apprehension of polygamous leader
At a news conference Thursday, FBI Special Agent in Charge, Salt Lake City Division, Eric Barnhart said the FBI knew it was just a matter of time.
The FBI said an off-duty Yankton, SD, police detective followed a tip about someone who matched Jeffs’ description.
The detective spotted the sect leader’s vehicle at a marina on Wednesday, called for law enforcement backup, and conducted a traffic stop.
After Jeffs’ had confirmed his identity, law enforcement took him into custody in Minnehaha County, SD. He is held without bond on a U.S. Marshals Service hold.
Jeffs had been living out of a Ford pickup truck and was in the area for, at least, two weeks, according to investigators.
During the news conference, John W. Huber, U.S. Attorney, said that when someone flees a federal indictment, the law will eventually catch up and “bring you back to justice.” Huber also stated that the sect leader's flight from custody would probably add another felony charge to his prosecution. Jeffs will soon be taken back to Utah.
