Polygamous Prophet Update

In an attempt to entice reticent tipsters, the FBI is now offering $50,000 in reward money for information leading to the arrest and conviction of fugitive fundamentalist Mormon "prophet" Warren Jeffs, leader of polygamist breakaway Mormon sect the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Jeffs has been on the lam for over six months, dodging Arizona state felony charges in connection with arranging marriages between teen girls and older, married men, and a federal count of unlawful flight to avoid prosecution. Between the federal booty and state reward offerings, there is now a total of $60K in reward money being offered for Jeffs' capture.

Meanwhile, last month federal authorities took a trip to the twin towns of Colorado City, Ariz., and Hildale, Utah – which, for nearly 100 years, have been the de facto headquarters for the church – to deliver subpoenas to various church members whom they believe may have information regarding Jeffs' whereabouts. According to Utah's KSL-TV, the subpoenas are apparently based on information found last year after authorities arrested Jeffs' brother, Seth Jeffs, in Colorado. Jeffs was pulled over on suspicion of drunk driving, but was then charged with solicitation of prostitution after his nephew, Nathaniel Steed Allred, told the cops that Jeffs had paid him $5,000 for "sexual services." Once the Colorado authorities realized who Jeffs was, they got a warrant to search the car the pair were riding in and found, among other things, some $140,000 in cash, a cache of letters addressed to Warren Jeffs, and a glass jar affixed with Jeffs' picture and labeled "Pennies for the Prophet." Seth said he was just a "messenger" traveling to the FLDS' gated compound in the West Texas town of Eldorado to deliver the booty to an FLDS bishop there. (See "Meet the New Neighbors," July 29.) Authorities apparently weren't buying Jeffs' explanation, however, and in November a federal grand jury in Denver indicted him for harboring a fugitive, for allegedly helping big bro Warren evade capture.

On Jan. 20, Seth Jeffs was back before federal District Judge Bob Blackburn, asking that the government return several items taken in his October arrest. He wants a global positioning system, a laptop computer, and a handful of cell phones returned because the items were not subjected to a "forensic search" as required by the warrant police used to seize the items, reports the Salt Lake Tribune. He's also asking the judge to suppress all statements he made to authorities upon his arrest, and to bar the use of any of the property seized, arguing that both the property and statements were obtained in violation of his Fourth Amendment right to be free of unlawful search and seizure, the Tribune reports. Blackburn is scheduled to consider the arguments at a Feb. 21 hearing in Denver.