| FLDS: Infamous inmate big news in small town | |||
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By Matthew Waller San Angelo Standard-Times | |||
SAN ANGELO, Texas — There was one common reaction in Big Lake about the presence of Warren Jeffs in the county jail: surprise. "I could not believe he is in this little bitty town," Kashia Craig, a part-owner of a gift shop in Big Lake, said. Jeffs, the leader of the polygamist Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, was brought from Utah to Texas by air Tuesday night and surreptitiously moved to the Reagan County Jail, where he spent the night before being arraigned in 51st District Court in Tom Green County on Wednesday. After the arraignment, he was moved back to Big Lake. Jeffs is to stand trial on three first-degree felony charges. Craig said she was from Dallas originally and she wouldn’t have thought a figure that had attracted national news attention would be in her new hometown. She said it slightly bothered her that someone accused of sexual assault of a child would be in a town where she had children, although she said Jeffs should be innocent until proven guilty. "If it’s true," Craig said about the allegations against Jeffs, "then I hope he gets justice." Jeffs is charged with sexual assault of a child, aggravated sexual assault and felony bigamy. Raymond Gary, Craig’s father, said at the store that he was skeptical about Jeffs’ chances of getting justice. "You can get away with anything with a good lawyer," Gary, a retired Baptist minister, said. "He just needs to know the Lord." Irene Villarreal, picking up pecans on the Reagan County Courthouse lawn, said she would also be concerned for her children. She said she hadn’t heard any particulars of Jeffs story but she hopes he receives a fair trial. A group of men that meet regularly in a Stripes convenience store over coffee bantered about the news. "He is kind of our idol here," Buddy Poymor said facetiously at the table, and he laughed. "He is in jail, and that’s where he needs to be." The group debated what to call Jeffs, considering a "celebrity criminal" and then settling on a "most wanted man." Jeffs spent a few months on the FBI’s 10 Mosted Wanted list in 2006. "I was shocked to know he is in jail" here, Joe Lucas said. Reagan County Sheriff Jeff Garner said he can’t speak about Jeffs’ case because accusations against him have nothing to do with Reagan County. The indictments against him came out of Schleicher County. Law enforcement raided the FLDS ranch near Eldorado in 2008 on the basis of what was later determined to be a hoax call claiming abuse at the ranch. "We are only housing Mr. Jeffs," Garner said. Garner said the jail has 96 beds and it has contracts with Crockett, Irion, Sterling and Tom Green counties and U.S. marshals to hold their prisoners. Jeffs has been a respectful prisoner thus far, Garner said. "He and I had a good conversation," Garner said. "We’ll take good care of him." Garner said no special accommodations have been made for Jeffs. Garner said the Texas Department of Public Safety may have chosen the Reagan County jail for it clean record. "It’s an extremely secure facility and has a reputation of doing a good job with the (Texas) Rangers," Garner said. Spokesmen for the Office of the Attorney General deferred questions of jail security to DPS, and DPS members could not be reached Wednesday evening. Cindy O’Bryan, the mayor of Big Lake, said the jail’s good record may have been a factor in Jeffs being housed there. "We probably have the best facility," O’Bryan said. As for the trial itself, O’Bryan said its outcome will be left to the jury. "There are 12 people," O’Bryan said. "It’s their decision." | |||
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gosanangelo.com Originally published December 1, 2010 | |||
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