Jeffs moved to Utah
 
By Ben Winslow and Nancy Perkins
Deseret Morning News
Warren Jeffs

HURRICANE — Captured polygamist leader Warren Jeffs is in Purgatory.

Literally.

The Fundamentalist LDS Church leader was booked into the Purgatory Correctional Facility this afternoon after being flown from Las Vegas by helicopter. A Department of Public Safety helicopter landed at the Purgatory Jail about 12:30 p.m. today, kicking up a dust cloud.

Jeffs was escorted by a pair of Washington County Sheriff's deputies.

"Inmate Jeffs was cooperative and compliant with the requests made of him by WCSO personnel," Washington County Sheriff's Lt. Jake Adams said in a statement.

Clad in a green-and-white striped uniform, Jeffs smiled meekly in his booking mug shot released by the Washington County Sheriff's Office. His hair is graying slightly.

Jeffs is scheduled to appear in St. George's 5th District Court on Wednesday afternoon via video hook-up from the Purgatory Jail. So far, a lawyer has not been named to represent Jeffs.

Jeffs is charged in Washington County with two counts of rape as an accomplice, a first-degree felony. He is accused of forcing a teenage girl into a polygamous marriage with an older man. Jeffs is facing similar charges across the border in Mohave County, Ariz.

Jeffs, 50, was a fugitive on the FBI's Ten Most Wanted list until he was arrested last week during a traffic stop on I-15 just outside Las Vegas.

E-mail: bwinslow@desnews.com; nperkins@desnews.com
 
deseretnews.com
Originally published Tuesday, September 5, 2006
 
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