SALT LAKE CITY, Utah, Aug. 29, 2016 (Gephardt Daily) — The FBI is offering a reward of up to $50,000 for information leading to the arrest and conviction of fugitive Lyle Steed Jeffs, the FLDS leader who fled after being released from a Utah jail pending his upcoming trial on food stamps fraud.
In addition, FBI Special Agent in Charge Eric Barnhart revealed Monday that tips from multiple sources lead him to believe that convicted felon Warren Jeffs — said to be leading the sect from behind bars — ordered younger brother Lyle Jeffs to do something, unspecified by Barnhart, which Lyle would not do because he feared getting in more trouble with the law.
When Lyle Jeffs refused a direct order from Warren Jeffs, the two had a falling out, Barnhart said, and Lyle Jeffs no longer has the official support of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, which he reportedly led in his brother’s absence.
Lyle Jeffs likely still has supporters within the church who have likely helped him evade capture. Barnhart said multiple sources have revealed that Jeffs was in the Short Creek area during July. Short Creek is the name given to the area that encompasses Colorado City, Ariz., and Hilldale, Utah, where the FLDS church is based.
Jeffs reportedly left before the FBI learned of his location.
Jeffs should be considered armed and dangerous, and may have disguised his appearance, Barnhart said. Anyone who believes they have spotted Jeffs should contact law officials. It is also possible Jeffs may have left the country, Barnhart said, adding that it is only a matter of time before Jeffs is caught.
“The world is a lot smaller than it was in 2006,” when Warren Jeffs managed to evade capture for several months after being placed on the FBI’s 10 Most Wanted Fugitives list,” Barnhart said. The FBI has many more relationships with foreign law agencies, he said.
Warren Jeffs was later captured and tried, and is serving a life plus 20 years sentence for child sexual abuse in connection with marriages he ordered for two girls, ages 12 and 15.
Barnhart said because the investigation was ongoing, he would not share any further details. Barnhart did say the goal now is to identify people who would be likely to help Jeffs, and learn their locations.
Jeffs is one of 11 people from the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints — a polygamist sect — to be charged with food stamp fraud. He was released from jail with a tracking device, which he slipped out of in mid-June to escape. He has not been seen since by law enforcement officials.
The charges are related to alleged abuse of federal tens of millions of dollars in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, known more commonly as food stamps).
Prosecutors say it was awarded to needy members of the FLDS sect, but used illegally to benefit top church leaders.
Jeffs and others charged reportedly told members to donate their food stamps or buy food at FLDS stores, then to turn in food purchased to the church’s storehouse.
Jeffs’ attorneys had argued that sharing food supplies and distributing them communally is a tenet of the FLDS church, so it is a freedom of religion issue, which offers them First Amendment protection.
Federal prosecutors also noted the illegal use of food stamps to purchase non-food items.
“Examples of the non-food items purchased with SNAP proceeds include paper products, a John Deere tractor, and a 2012 Ford F-350 truck,” an agency attorney stated in a written response to Jeffs’ attorneys.
Jeffs’ trial is set for October, although attorneys for the majority of the 11 defendants have asked that it be delayed.
Lyle Jeffs Reward Final
Colorado City is not in Colorado. It is in Arizona.