| Shurtleff wants to see Jeffs evidence He says items from car could be key to an organized-crime probe | |
|
By Ben Winslow Deseret Morning News | |
ST. GEORGE — A stalled organized crime investigation into the Fundamentalist LDS Church could heat up again if the Utah Attorney General's Office is able to get its hands on evidence seized when FBI agents arrested polygamist leader Warren Jeffs. "We believe there's substantial information in there that would help with regard to financial investigations," Utah Attorney General Mark Shurtleff said in an interview with the Deseret Morning News. Shurtleff was tight-lipped about what evidence he would like to see but said some of it could be valuable to ongoing investigations into Jeffs and the FLDS Church. "We've heard so much," he said. Jeffs, 51, is on trial in 5th District Court on charges of rape as an accomplice, a first-degree felony. He is accused of performing a marriage between a 14-year-old girl and her 19-year-old cousin. Jeffs was on the FBI's Ten Most Wanted list until he was arrested in a traffic stop outside Las Vegas in August 2006. A Nevada Highway Patrol trooper stopped a red 2007 Cadillac Escalade because the temporary tag wasn't visible. The traffic stop ultimately led to the discovery of Jeffs and a "mother lode" of evidence inside the Escalade that has been the subject of legal battles in several states. Legal battles The FBI has custody of most of the evidence. The U.S. Attorney's Office in Utah is using it as part of its prosecution of Jeffs for unlawful flight to avoid prosecution, stemming from his time as one of the FBI's Ten Most Wanted. "We will continue to coordinate with any law enforcement agency," said Melodie Rydalch, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Attorney's Office in Utah. Jeffs' defense attorneys fought to have some of the items returned to the FLDS leader, claiming they were protected under his First Amendment right to freedom of religion. A federal judge gave government prosecutors until Sept. 4 to decide what evidence was relevant to his criminal prosecution and then return the rest to Jeffs' lawyers. The U.S. Attorney's Office in Utah confirmed it met the deadline but declined to say what was returned to Jeffs' defense team. In May 2006, Shurtleff confirmed to the Deseret Morning News his office had been quietly conducting an investigation into Jeffs and the FLDS Church for possible financial crimes including "double books, cooking books, offshore accounts and fraud." The investigation has stalled because Shurtleff said his office has been unable to get its hands on any documents or accounting books related to the FLDS Church. Shurtleff would not say if he would seek to intervene in the federal evidence issue. The list The Deseret Morning News has obtained a new list of some of the items seized from the Escalade when the FBI arrested Jeffs. It recently was filed in federal court in Salt Lake City in connection with a 2002 religious discrimination lawsuit against Jeffs and the FLDS Church. Shem Fischer, an ex-FLDS member who claims he was fired from his job at a wood shop after he was kicked out of the polygamous church, is trying to collect on a $338,000 judgment. He has filed court papers in several states, trying to collect on some of the assets of Jeffs and the FLDS Church. Among the items being stored at the FBI offices in Salt Lake City and Las Vegas are:
"We can't talk about it, but it's been valuable," said Jeffrey L. Shields, an attorney for the UEP Trust. "It's things we can use in the administration of the trust." In 2005, the courts took control of the UEP Trust and its estimated $110 million in assets amid allegations that Jeffs and other top FLDS leaders were fleecing it. The trust recently underwent reforms, doing away with the early Mormon model of a "united order" and paving the way for private property ownership in the FLDS communities of Hildale, Utah, and Colorado City, Ariz. E-mail: bwinslow@desnews.com | |
|
deseretnews.com Originally published September 16, 2007 | |
| Back | |
| For more information email: | |
