A high-ranking official of the Polygamous church will remain in jail after a judge denied its request to release in prison pending court hearing. The said official is one of the 11 indicted members of the church over alleged food stamp fraudulent.
Lyle Jeffs, 56 years old and the younger brother of the imprisoned Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints sect leader, Warren Jeffs was not granted to leave jail, CNN News reported. According to U.S. District Judge Ted Stewart's court ruling, Jeffs still has contact with the church's leader and has history of evading law enforcement by concealing his whereabouts.
The judge considered the polygamous Short Creek bishop as flight risk. His representing attorneys asked the judge for house arrest in Provo, located about 275 miles away from Short Creek. The judge also wrote on court document Thursday in support of his ruling that the order to detain him was not simply about the religious belief of the church or their group.
After his brother's imprisonment, Jeffs manages the day to day operation on the isolated polygamous town located at Utah-Arizona border, Herald Courier reported. Among the indicted members of the church, Jeff is the last remaining church member in prison. The judge agreed to the prosecutors, sending Jeffs out of prison will "cause witnesses to clam up" as he has a high ranking authority to punish them, such as through financial needs and status in the church.
He and 10 other church members, including another brother, Seth, were accused in a federal grand jury indictment of conspiring to fraud the distribution of food stamp benefits. According to Salt Lake Tribune, FLDS Families who qualified for federal assistance were told to donate their food stamp debit cards to the church, as they convert the benefits to money.
The trial is scheduled to start at the end of May, but is likely to be cancelled so attorneys for the 11 defendants have time to review investigative documents generated by the case.
