FBI adds $50,000 to reward in hunt for FLDS leader
 
By Patrice St. Germain
patrices@thespectrum.com
 
ST. GEORGE -The FBI has raised the stakes in its hunt for polygamist leader Warren Jeffs.

Tuesday, the agency added $50,000 to the reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the self-proclaimed prophet of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, which is based in the twin cities of Hildale and Colorado City, Ariz.

In July, the Utah and Arizona attorney's general banded together to offer a $10,000 reward for information leading to Jeffs' arrest, but despite several reported Jeffs sightings - including one in November in Southern Utah - the 49-year-old FLDS leader has remained elusive.

Gary Engels, an investigator for the Mohave County Attorney who has maintained an office in Colorado City for the last 14 months, said the increased reward is a step in the right direction, but said it still isn't enough money.

"It (the reward) would have to be a life-changing amount of money," Engels said. "For the most zealous, this is their salvation, their prophet, and no amount of money is going to work."

In June, a grand jury in Mohave County, Ariz. indicted Jeffs on two counts of sexual conduct with a minor and one count of conspiracy to commit sexual conduct with a minor. If convicted of the charges, Jeffs faces four months to two years in jail.

Later in the month, a federal arrest warrant was issued charging Jeffs with unlawful flight to avoid prosecution.

Special Agent Deborah McCarley, who works in the FBI's Phoenix office, said although the agency had Jeffs on its most wanted list, there was no reward offered until Tuesday. McCarley said the reward, separate from the one offered by the Utah and Arizona attorney's general, is based on information leading to the arrest and conviction (which is a guideline policy) of Jeffs.

"We hope it will motivate those with information who were reluctant to come forward previously to call us," McCarley said. "Many people are motivated by money and we hope this will bring forth some additional leads."

Jeffs isn't the only one facing charges relating to underage marriages. During June and July, Mohave County grand juries returned indictments against eight other Colorado City men for their participation in spiritual, but non-legal, marriages to girls under the age of 18.

In October, Jeffs' younger brother, Seth Steed Jeffs, 32, was arrested in Pueblo, Colo. and charged with prostitution and solicitation for prostitution after his companion Nathaniel Steed Allred told a deputy Jeffs had hired him for sexual companionship.

During the course of a search of Jeffs' vehicle, deputies found cash, prepaid calling cards and a container with a label that read in part "pennies for the prophet."

Once the Pueblo County Sheriff's Office realized Warren Jeffs was a wanted felon, they contacted the FBI to assist in the investigation.

During a voluntary interview with the FBI, Seth Jeffs told agents he was a "messenger" for the church and was delivering documents and currency from church headquarters in Hildale to another church headquarters in Texas.

In an affidavit, it states that Seth Jeffs is aware his brother is a federal fugitive but said he did not know his whereabouts, nor would he nor any other member of the congregation ever assist law enforcement in locating Warren Jeffs because "it would be stupid to tell anyone where he is because he would get caught."

Seth Jeffs was scheduled for a jury trial last week in the United States District Court in Denver, but Jeff Dorschner, a spokesman for the United States Attorney's Office in Denver, said the defense asked and was granted a continuance.

Seth Jeffs' next court date is a motion hearing scheduled for Feb. 21. Dorschner said Allred is not facing any federal charges for the incident in Colorado.
 
TheSpectrum.com
Originally published January 18, 2006
 
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