News

Actions

New charges filed against FLDS leader Lyle Jeffs

Posted at 2:46 PM, Jun 21, 2017
and last updated 2017-06-21 16:46:27-04

SALT LAKE CITY — A federal grand jury has issued a new indictment against Fundamentalist LDS Church leader Lyle Jeffs.

Federal prosecutors added a “failure to appear” charge over his escape from home confinement last year. No court appearance has been scheduled yet, as he has not been returned to Utah.

FLDS leader Lyle Jeffs arrives at the federal courthouse in Sioux Falls, SD. (Image KSFY via CNN)

As FOX 13 first reported last year, the FBI believes Jeffs used olive oil to slip out of a GPS monitoring device while on home confinement. He was arrested last week after nearly a year on the lam in South Dakota.

Jeffs was originally indicted last year on food stamp fraud charges. He and 10 others were accused of ordering faithful members of the Utah-based polygamous church to hand over Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits to the FLDS Church to do with as they wished.

Charges were dismissed or plea deals were struck for the others. U.S. Attorney for Utah John Huber has said they are not inclined to offer agreements to Jeffs.

Read the indictment here: