| Feds turn up the heat on Jeffs Prosecutors charge him with unlawful flight | |
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By Ben Winslow Deseret Morning News | |
Federal prosecutors in Utah have turned up the heat on finding fugitive polygamist leader Warren Jeffs. The U.S. Attorney for Utah has charged Jeffs with a single count of unlawful flight to avoid prosecution, accusing him of fleeing the state to avoid facing charges in St. George for rape as an accomplice. Washington County prosecutors filed the first-degree felony counts against Jeffs earlier this month, accusing the Fundamentalist LDS Church leader of forcing a teenage girl into a polygamous marriage and threatening her with damnation if she left. On Wednesday, a federal magistrate in Cedar City signed a warrant for Jeffs' arrest. "Local law enforcement and the FBI asked us to get this," U.S. Attorney for Utah spokeswoman Melodie Rydalch said Thursday. "It's another tool for law enforcement to help get Mr. Jeffs." Jeffs is facing a similar federal warrant in Arizona. FBI special agent Deborah McCarley said the two federal charges will allow more resources to be allocated in searching for Jeffs. "We are still proactively looking for him," she said from the FBI's office in Phoenix on Thursday. "We are still taking in leads from the community." A federal grand jury in Arizona is reportedly investigating the FLDS Church and Jeffs. A police officer and an assistant postmaster in Colorado City are facing federal contempt of court charges for refusing to testify before the grand jury. Jeffs is on the FBI's Most Wanted List. He is facing charges in Utah and Arizona related to performing child bride marriages. Utah and Arizona authorities are offering a $60,000 reward for information leading to Jeffs' arrest and conviction. The FLDS Church is known to have compounds in Utah, Arizona, Nevada, Texas, South Dakota and British Columbia in Canada. Some believe Jeffs has recently been to the FLDS Church's enclave in Eldorado, Texas, where the group has a temple. Acting on rumors of a possible liquidation of FLDS-owned property, lawyers for the United Effort Plan (UEP) Trust filed a lawsuit in Canada earlier this week trying to block the sale of property in the name of the Bountiful Elementary-Secondary School Society. "We believe that property should belong to the UEP," said Jeffrey L. Shields, a lawyer for court-appointed special fiduciary Bruce Wisan. In 2005, the state of Utah took control of the UEP Trust, which controls houses, property and businesses in the polygamous border towns of Hildale and Colorado City. Shields said the lawsuit ensures that any property belonging to the UEP in Canada is not sold out from underneath them. "We're just trying to stop an asset from trying to get out from our umbrella," he said Thursday. "They're going to have their day in court, we're not taking anything without due process." A small portion of the community of Bountiful is loyal to Warren Jeffs. The majority are followers of Winston Blackmore, another polygamous leader who was once in the hierarchy of the FLDS Church before being ousted by Jeffs. Shields said cooperation in the Canadian polygamous communities has been good. The UEP Trust has been trying to get people to pay their property taxes or risk eviction from their homes. "A lot of people have responded," he said. "It appears to be a much easier group to deal with because a majority of them are not committed to Warren." Shields told the Deseret Morning News there is concern that Jeffs' followers may be trying to sell the multimillion-dollar property and use the money to keep their leader on the run. "I assume they send it to Texas," he said. There have been other rumors that FLDS faithful in Canada have been plotting a mass migration to the Canadian province Saskatchewan. E-mail: bwinslow@desnews.com | |
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deseretnews.com Originally published Saturday, April 29, 2006 | |
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