Warren Jeffs

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**Warren Steed Jeffs**
Captured
FBI Ten Most Wanted Fugitive
Warren Steed Jeffs
Born:	December 3, 1955
Crime:	Unlawful flight to avoid prosecution; Sexual conduct with a minor; Conspiracy to commit sexual conduct with a minor; Rape as an accomplice
Date Added:	May 6, 2006
Date Caught:	August 28, 2006
Number on List:	#482

Warren Steed Jeffs (born December 3, 1955 in San Francisco, California) is the President of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (FLDS).

FLDS is one of a number of splinter groups that separated from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints when the LDS officially ended polygamy in 1890.

Jeffs' followers regard him as a prophet of God.

In May 2006, Jeffs was placed on the FBI's Ten Most Wanted List for unlawful flight to avoid prosecution on state charges related to his allegedly arranging extralegal "marriages" between his adult male followers and girls who were under the age of majority, the age of consent and/or the legally recognizable marriageable age. Jeffs is believed to have had sexual relations with a minor, but neither the State of Arizona nor the State of Utah has filed such charges against him.^[1] ^[2]

Jeffs was arrested near Las Vegas, Nevada on August 28, 2006 when he was pulled over in a burgundy Cadillac Escalade, and remains in custody as of February 28, 2007.

1 Role as leader of the FLDS
2 Sex crime allegations and FBI's Most Wanted
- 2.1 August 2006 arrest
3 Media publicity and research
4 Sound clip
5 References
6 External links

[edit] Role as leader of the FLDS

Warren Jeffs' official title in the FLDS Church is "President and Prophet, Seer and Revelator." He also holds the title of "President of the Priesthood." Due to his prior position as "First Counselor," Jeffs succeeded to the other positions after the death of his father Rulon Jeffs, who died on September 8, 2002. ^[3] One of his Jeffs' statements after his father's death was directed at high-ranking officials in the church: "I won't say much, but I will say this - hands off my father's wives." Then addressing the recent widows, he said, "You women will live as if father is still alive and in the next room." Within a week, Warren had married all but two of his father's several dozen wives^{[citation needed]}. After this, he continued to marry more women.

As prophet and leader of the FLDS, Warren Jeffs has a considerable amount of control over members of the church and their private behavior. He has instituted rules that segregate and isolate FLDS members from news and society. Toward that end, and at Jeffs' direction, a group of FLDS men called the "Sons of Helaman" were at one point assigned to check that homes contained only "approved" literature.

Jeffs, the sole individual in the church who can perform marriages, is responsible for assigning wives to husbands. Jeffs also has the ability to punish men by reassigning their wives, children, and homes to another man.^{[citation needed]} Moreover, the FLDS Church owns essentially all of the homes and real estate in the areas where its members reside, and members who do not abide by the rules can be removed from their homes and cast out of the society.^{[citation needed]}

In 2000, the Colorado City Unified School District had more than 1,200 students. When Jeffs ordered FLDS members to pull their children out of public schools, the number declined to around 250. He did not order the FLDS members who made up the majority of the school district's administrators to quit their positions ^[4].

Until courts in Utah recently intervened, Jeffs controlled almost all of the land in Colorado City, Arizona, and Hildale, Utah, which was part of a church trust, the United Effort Plan (UEP). The land has been estimated to be worth over $100 million. Currently, all UEP assets are in the custody of the Utah court system pending further litigation. In January 2004, Jeffs exhibited his power by expelling a group of 20 men from Colorado City, including the mayor, and reassigning their wives and children to other men. Jeffs teaches that a man has to have at least three wives in order to get into heaven and the more wives man has, the closer he is to heaven. ^[5] Former church members claim that Jeffs himself has seventy wives (Egan, 2005).

Before his 2006 arrest, Jeffs had last been sighted on January 1, 2005 near Eldorado, Texas, at the dedication ceremony of the foundation of a large and elaborate new FLDS temple on an area of land called the YFZ Ranch. The media have reported that Jeffs' church has designated or will soon designate the area as its new home base.

On June 10, 2006, Arizona Attorney General Terry Goddard told the Deseret Morning News that he had heard from several sources that Jeffs had returned to Arizona, and had performed marriages in a mobile home that was being used as a wedding chapel. ^[6]

On March 27, 2007, the Deseret Morning News reported that Jeffs had renounced his role as prophet of the FLDS church. He was quoted as saying he was "the greatest of all sinners" and that God never called him to be Prophet. ^[7]

[edit] Sex crime allegations and FBI's Most Wanted

A photo of Warren Jeffs from his wanted poster on the FBI web site.

In June 2005, Warren Jeffs was charged with sexual assault on a minor and with conspiracy to commit sexual conduct with a minor for allegedly arranging, in 2002, a marriage between a 16-year-old girl and a 28-year-old man who was already married. He faces those charges in Mohave County, Arizona. In July 2005, the Arizona Attorney General's office distributed wanted posters offering $10,000 for information leading to the arrest of Jeffs.

In late 2005, Jeffs was put on the FBI's most wanted fugitive list, offering $60,000 for information leading to his arrest. Shortly after being placed on the FBI list, Warren Jeffs was featured on the television program America's Most Wanted.

Around this time, Warren Jeffs' brother, Seth Steed Jeffs, was arrested under suspicion of harboring a fugitive. During a routine traffic stop on October 28, 2005, in Pueblo County, Colorado, police found nearly $142,000 in cash, about $7,000 worth of prepaid debit cards, and Warren Jeffs' personal records. During Seth Jeffs' court case, FBI agent Andrew Stearns testified Jeffs had told him that he didn't know where his older brother was and that he would not reveal his whereabouts if he did. He was convicted of harboring a fugitive on May 1, 2006 ^[8]. On July 14, 2006, he was sentenced to three years' probation and a $2500 fine ^[9].

On April 5, 2006, the state of Utah issued an arrest warrant for Jeffs on felony charges of accomplice rape of a teenage girl between 14 and 18 years old ^[10].

On May 6, 2006, the FBI placed Jeffs on their Top Ten Most Wanted Fugitives list. ^[11] He was the the 482nd fugitive listed on that list. In addition, the bounty on his head was raised to $100,000, and the public was warned that "Jeffs may travel with a number of loyal and armed bodyguards."^{[citation needed]}

The updated posters warned that Jeffs had ties to Utah, Arizona, Texas, Colorado, South Dakota, British Columbia, and Quintana Roo, Mexico. There is also information that he has ties to some rural farms run by some of his followers near Pioche, Nevada, as well as construction companies in Mesquite, Nevada. ^[12]

On May 27, 2006 Bruce Wisan, the court-appointed accountant in charge of the FLDS' trust fund, filed civil suits against Jeffs. Wisan claimed that Jeffs is responsible for "fleecing trust assets." Along with church leaders, former trustees Truman Barlow, Leroy Jeffs, James Zitting, and William Jessop were also named as defendants. "We feel that they’ve taken things from the trust," Wisan said. "Their actions have caused harm to the trust." ^[13]

On June 8, 2006, Jeffs returned to Colorado City to perform more "child bride" marriages. Nearby citizens pointed out a mobile home where the weddings had allegedly taken place. ^[14]

[edit] August 2006 arrest

On August 28, 2006, around 9 p.m. local time, Warren Jeffs was pulled over on Interstate 15 in Clark County, Nevada by Nevada Highway Patrolman Eddie Dutchover because his red 2007 Cadillac Escalade's temporary license plates were not visible. One of his wives, Naomi Jeffs, and Issac Steve Jeffs, were also with him, and Jeffs himself had computers, 15 cell phones, disguises (including three wigs), and more than $54,000 in cash. ^[15].

In a Nevada court hearing on August 31, 2006 Jeffs waived extradition and agreed to return to Utah ^[16] to face two first-degree felony charges of accomplice rape ^[10]. Each charge carries an indeterminate penalty of five years to life in prison. Arizona prosecutors are next in line to try Jeffs. Jeffs is currently in the Washington County, Utah jail pending an April 23, 2007 trial on two counts of rape as an accomplice for his role in arranging a 2001 marriage between a 14-year-old girl and her 19-year-old cousin. ^[17]

Jeffs is believed to be leading his group from jail, and a Utah state board has expressed dissatisfaction in dealing with Hilldale police, believing that many have ties to Jeffs, and as such, do not cooperate. ^[18]

[edit] Media publicity and research

On July 19, 2006, Britain's Channel 4 ran the documentary The Man with 80 Wives. The program featured presenter Sanjiv Bhattacharya searching for Warren Jeffs, unsuccessfully, in Colorado, Utah and Texas. Filmed before Jeffs was put on the FBI's 10 most wanted list, the documentary features interviews with one of Jeffs's brothers as well as with several excommunicated FLDS members. The documentary can be viewed on YouTube. ^[19]

In 2003, Under the Banner of Heaven was published, a book written by Jon Krakauer documenting the history of both the LDS church and its spinoff sects, focusing largely on the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. The book described illegal activity in the (Fundamentalist) Church, mainly polygamy and statutory rape.

In Canada on October 23, 2006, Global ran an hour long documentary on "Global Currents", which followed the lives of excommunicated members and their hardships. On January 23, 2007 CTV aired a made-for-TV movie titled "In God's Country" ^[20] which tells a fictionalized tale that alludes to FLDS and their behavior and beliefs.