| Fugitive polygamist held Warren Jeffs, one of the FBI's Ten Most Wanted, arrested near Las Vegas | |
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By Deborah Frazier Rocky Mountain News | |
Warren Jeffs, the polygamist leader on the FBI's Ten Most Wanted Fugitives list for child sexual abuse charges in two states, was arrested near Las Vegas in a vehicle with Colorado license plates. Jeffs, 50, was taken into custody late Monday after a Nevada state patrolman stopped the red 2007 Cadillac SUV with temporary Colorado registration for a routine traffic stop on Interstate 15. Jeffs, who fled charges that he arranged marriages between young girls and older married men in Arizona and Utah, is being held in Las Vegas without bond. The patrolman pulled the vehicle over because he was unable to clearly see the car's temporary tags. He called the FBI after finding items in the SUV related to Jeffs, said Dave Nanz, a FBI spokesman in Las Vegas. "Jeffs didn't identify himself, but the officer found $50,000 in cash, numerous cell phones, wigs in various hairstyles and $10,000 in (pre-paid) credit cards," said Nanz. Isaac S. Jeffs, 32, Warren Jeffs' brother, was driving the vehicle, and Naomi Jeffs, 32, one of Warren Jeffs' wives, was a passenger, said Nanz. Nanz declined to disclose the car's owner. The luxury SUV's license plate frame indicates it came from Don Massey, a Cadillac dealership in Lone Tree, south of Denver, but no one at the dealership was available Tuesday to verify that. Warren Jeffs, the self-proclaimed prophet of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, which teaches that men need at least three wives to attain the highest level of heaven, controls enclaves in southwest Colorado, Nevada, Utah, Arizona, Texas, South Dakota, Canada and Mexico. Warren Jeffs was indicted in Arizona in 2005 for arranging a marriage between a 16-year- old girl and an older married man. In 2006, he was charged in Utah with two felony counts of rape as an accomplice for arranging the marriage of a teenage girl to an older married man. No decision has been made on where Jeffs will be prosecuted first. The FLDS recently opened a business, Western Precision, a tool and die manufacturer, in Las Vegas. In June, FBI Director Robert Mueller said Jeffs belonged on the Ten Most Wanted Fugitives list with Osama bin Laden because Jeffs preyed on children. The sect, which split more than 100 years ago from the Mormon Church, formally known as the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, began arranging marriages between young girls and older married men when Jeffs took over in 2002. "With him incarcerated, the marriages of underage girls will stop," said Elaine Tyler of Hope, a Utah group that helps women, prospective child brides and boys escape polygamy. "The prophet is the only one who can perform underage marriages," she said. Tyler said women fleeing polygamy told her that Jeffs has been traveling between FLDS compounds in Texas, South Dakota, Las Vegas and Colorado. Lt. Steve Harmon of the Montezuma County Sheriff's Office in Cortez, near the FLDS' Colorado compound, said the remote settlement of homes, ponds, vegetable gardens and workshops hasn't been active this summer. "We haven't seen a red SUV," said Harmon. David Allred, who purchased the Colorado and Texas properties for the FLDS, has been mentioned as a possible temporary leader if Jeffs is convicted. "The FLDS will still continue with someone else as the leader," said Ben Bistline, author of several books on the FLDS. Allred bought the group's first Colorado parcel in July 2003 for $669,000 and said the open fields and rustic house there would be a hunting retreat. When Allred bought the group's second parcel, including a house, two cabins, a large metal shed and several ponds, in September 2004, he didn't use his own name, but paid $725,000. "Warren will control it from prison," said Bistline. "They will continue to live polygamy. I just hope whoever takes over is less vicious." Dave Doran, the sheriff in Eldorado, Texas, where Allred bought a ranch and the FLDS built a massive temple, dozens of homes and a dairy, said the red SUV was never spotted on routine ranch flyovers. Doran said he called the FLDS compound Tuesday morning and told his contact there that Jeffs had been arrested. "It was hard news for them to swallow," said Doran. "They aren't going to go away though. It's a blow to them, but he's still their prophet." Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints
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RockyMountainNews.com Originally published August 30, 2006 | |
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