Source: CNN
By Ann O’Neill, CNN
(CNN)From inside a Texas prison cell, polygamous prophet Warren Jeffs is orchestrating a shakeup of his embattled sect, the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, federal prosecutors allege in court documents filed Monday.
Jeffs, who is serving a life prison sentence for sexually assaulting his underage brides at an FLDS compound in Texas, has gone so far as to order a complete reorganization of the FLDS leadership, prosecutors allege. The disclosures came in a court filing seeking to keep other sect leaders behind bars as they await trial in a welfare fraud case.
A hearing on the matter is set Tuesday in federal court in Salt Lake City.
The court documents reveal the inner turmoil of a sect under pressure from federal authorities as well as “apostates,” former members who remain in the vicinity of the FLDS home base of Short Creek, the abutting communities of Hildale, Utah, and Colorado City, Arizona.
They also show that the FBI is closely watching the FLDS. Some of the reports attached to the government’s motion were compiled as recently as Friday.
Earlier this year, a federal jury in Phoenix found the FLDS discriminated against non-members in Short Creek. Four days have been set aside in October for testimony concerning what should be done with the governments of the two cities and their shared police department.
As testimony in the Phoenix case wound down, federal prosecutors in Salt Lake City announced the indictment of 11 FLDS members, including Lyle Jeffs. They are accused of comingling food stamp benefits and distributing purchased items in accordance with a member’s rank in the sect. Church leaders and United Order members received the best of everything, while less favored members barely scraped by, federal authorities allege.
Lyle Jeffs is a federal fugitive from those charges, having fled home detention in Salt Lake City. FBI officials suggested he used olive oil to slip out of his ankle monitor.
Included among the documents are FBI reports, letters from Jeffs, news and weather clippings concerning natural disasters, wars and other mass tragedies, what appears to be a list of every FLDS follower living in Short Creek.
Categories: America, Mormonism, The Muslim Times, USA