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On August 29, 2006 Warren Jeffs was arrested in Las Vegas, with no further information given. Local news station KVBC Channel 3 reported the Jeffs was arrested during a traffic stop and that the Metro officer recognized him. Further details released soon.
On August 29, 2006 Warren Jeffs was arrested in Las Vegas, with no further information given. Local news station KVBC Channel 3 reported the Jeffs was arrested during a traffic stop and that the Metro officer recognized him. Further details released soon.


According to CNN : The FBI says fugitive polygamist Mormon sect leader Warren Steed Jeffs has been arrested in Las Vegas, The Associated Press reports.
According to CNN : The FBI says fugitive polygamist Mormon sect leader Warren Steed Jeffs has been arrested in Las Vegas, The Associated Press reports. CNN reports Jeffs was stopped for a registration violation.


===July 2006 British Documentary===
===July 2006 British Documentary===

Revision as of 14:34, 29 August 2006

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

Warren Steed Jeffs (born in San Francisco, California on December 3, 1955) is the self-proclaimed Prophet, or "speaker of God's will," of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (FLDS). Jeffs was apprehended by the FBI on August 29, 2006 in Las Vegas.

In May 2006, he was placed on the FBI's Ten Most Wanted List, for such counts as, but not limited to, sexual conduct with a minor and conspiracy to commit sexual conduct with a minor. According to the FBI alert, Jeffs is to be considered dangerous, primarily because he typically travels with a number of armed bodyguards. He is said to have about 80 wives and over 250 children.


Role as leader of the FLDS

Warren Jeffs is the son of Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints "prophet" and leader, Rulon Jeffs. Upon Rulon's death on September 8, 2002, Warren appointed himself the new leader of the church. [1] One of his first 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. [2] After this, he continued to wed himself to many more women.

File:Warrenjeffs.jpg
Warren Jeffs

As Prophet and leader of the FLDS, Warren Jeffs has a considerable amount of control over members of the church. Jeffs is the sole individual in the church who can perform marriages, and is responsible for assigning wives to husbands. If on good terms with Jeffs, a member of the FLDS can be assigned more than one wife. Jeffs also has the ability to punish men by reassigning their wives, children, and homes to another man.

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 brought to light the large amounts of illegal activity (mainly polygamy and statutory rape) occurring within the FLDS church.

Until courts in Utah recently intervened, Jeffs controlled almost all of the land in Colorado City, Arizona, and Hildale, Utah, part of a church trust, the United Effort Plan (UEP), which is estimated to be worth over $100 million. Currently, all the assets of the UEP 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; former church members claim that he himself has seventy wives. (Egan 2005)

The last known appearance Jeffs has made was on January 1, 2005 near Eldorado, Texas for the dedication ceremony of the foundation of a large and elaborate new temple on an area of land called the YFZ Ranch. The media has reported that the FLDS may soon or already have taken the area as their new home base.

On June 10, 2006, the Arizona Attorney General 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. [3]

Sex crime allegations and FBI's Most Wanted

In June 2005, Warren Jeffs was charged with sexual assault on a minor, and with conspiracy to commit sexual conduct with a minor for arranging the marriage between a 16-year-old girl and a 28 year old man who was already married. The events allegedly occurred in 2002. He faces his 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.

File:Sethjeffsmugshot.jpg
Seth Jeffs' mugshot following his 2005 arrest for alledgedly harboring his fugitive brother

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 his brother's personal records. During Seth Jeffs' court case, FBI agent Andrew Stearns testified Jeffs told him he didn't know where the elder Jeffs was, but he would not reveal his whereabouts if he did. He was convicted of harboring a fugitive on May 1, 2006.[4] He was sentenced to three years probation and a $2500 fine on July 14, 2006.[5]

On May 7, 2006, the FBI placed Jeffs on their Top Ten Most Wanted Fugitives list, placing him alongside the likes of serial murderers, drug lords and Osama bin Laden. In addition, the bounty on his head was raised significantly to $100,000, and the public was warned that "Jeffs may travel with a number of loyal and armed bodyguards."[6]

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.[7] It has also been reported by CNN that the group may be setting up a new base in Pringle, South Dakota. Non-FLDS residents in the area told reporters that "they're certain Jeffs has been in Pringle." [8]

On the May 8, 2006 edition of Larry King Live, the FLDS and its fugitive leader were the main topics, featuring a panel of journalists who have studied Jeffs as well as several former FLDS church members. [9] Most of the panel (which included several law enforcement officials) agreed that there was a high possibility that Jeffs would not turn himself in, and that there was also a chance that the situation at the group's new headquarters in Eldorado could eventually wind up in a violent standoff, resembling that of the infamous Waco, Texas debacle in 1993. One panelist noted that the best possible way to catch Jeffs would be while the man was on the road (where he would have little protection outside his bodyguards), due to the fact that Jeffs is the only person within the FLDS with permission to perform marriages and is most likely having to travel from community to community to perform such ceremonies.

Further charges were filed against Jeffs on May 27, 2006, by Bruce Wisan, the court-appointed accountant in charge of the FLDS' trust fund. 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 in the case. "We feel that they’ve taken things from the trust," Wisan said. "Their actions have caused harm to the trust." [10]

The Deseret News reported on June 8, 2006 that Jeffs had recently returned to Colorado City to perform further "child bride" marriages. Nearby citizens pointed out a mobile home where said weddings had supposedly taken place. [11] FBI Director Robert Muller remained optimistic about the case, telling the press that he's confident the FBI will catch Jeffs. [12]

August 2006 Arrest

On August 29, 2006 Warren Jeffs was arrested in Las Vegas, with no further information given. Local news station KVBC Channel 3 reported the Jeffs was arrested during a traffic stop and that the Metro officer recognized him. Further details released soon.

According to CNN : The FBI says fugitive polygamist Mormon sect leader Warren Steed Jeffs has been arrested in Las Vegas, The Associated Press reports. CNN reports Jeffs was stopped for a registration violation.

July 2006 British Documentary

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 in Colorado, Utah and Texas, but not successful in finding him. The documentary is however an enlightening look at the FLDS organisation, interviewing Jeffs' brother and several excommunicated FLDS members. This was apparently filmed before Jeffs was put on the FBI's 10 most wanted, indicated by the programme's end credits.


Sound clip

See also

References

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