Jeffs, a leader of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, was indicted last year on charges of food stamp fraud and money laundering. He gave the FBI the slip last June.
Lyle Jeffs, a leader of the polygamist Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints who has been accused of large-scale food stamp fraud and money laundering, was arrested by the FBI on Wednesday after nearly a year on the run. Jeffs was indicted last February and gave the FBI the slip last June. The FBI believes he used olive oil to slip a GPS tracker off his ankle, as the The bureau offered a $50,000 reward for information leading to his arrest. Jeffs was located in South Dakota and arrested on Wednesday night, the FBI. Jeffs is the brother of infamous polygamist leader Warren Jeffs, who was in 2011 for his « marriages » to a 12-year-old and 15-year-old. Warren Jeffs is serving a life sentence in prison. After his brother’s imprisonment, Lyle Jeffs became acting leader of the FLDS sect, a radical offshoot of Mormonism that began splintering from the mainstream church more than a century ago. The church has a few thousand members and, unlike the contemporary Mormon church, believes in polygamy. Lyle Jeffs reportedly has, or had,; Warren Jeffs had dozens of wives. In January 2016, the that « Uncle Lyle » had become the church’s chief executive and religious leader: The church has also been accused of discriminating against non-church members. But it was the alleged food stamp fraud that — not just for Lyle Jeffs, but for nearly a dozen church leaders and members. NPR reported on the indictment last year, noting that some church members accuse the federal government of persecuting them:
