Lyle Steed Jeffs
Born (1960-01-17) January 17, 1960
NationalityAmerican
Known forFLDS involvement
Parent(s)Rulon Jeffs and Marilyn Steed
RelativesBrothers Warren, Seth, Nephi;
nephews Brent W. Jeffs, Helaman Jeffs

Lyle Jeffs is the brother of Warren Jeffs and a bishop in the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, commonly referred to as the FLDS Church.[1] He has been referred to as his brother's "special counselor" in some church documents.[2]

Jeffs was the FLDS bishop for both Hildale, Utah, and Colorado City, Arizona.[3] According to The Salt Lake Tribune, he was removed from office in 2012.[4] He was convicted and sentenced in 2017 to five years in prison for orchestrating a welfare fraud scheme.[5]

Lyle is the son of Rulon Jeffs, who was president of the FLDS Church from 1986 until his death in 2002.[6] Lyle is also the uncle of author and ex-FLDS member Brent W. Jeffs.

On April 9, 2015, U.S. District Judge David Sam held Lyle Jeffs in contempt of court.[7] In 2012, the United States Department of Labor began an investigation into the role of the FLDS Church and Jeffs in suspected child labor violations.[8][7] A CNN report claimed that children were used to harvest nuts at the Southern Utah Pecan Ranch in 2012.[8][7] Judge Sam ruled that Lyle Jeffs and his brother Nephi disobeyed subpoenas requiring them to answer questions from Labor Department investigators.[7]

On April 20, 2015, the U.S. Department of Labor assessed fines totaling $1.96 million against a group of FLDS church members, including Lyle Jeffs, for alleged labor violations during the church's 2012 pecan harvest at an orchard near Hurricane, Utah.[9]

Jeffs allegedly escaped house arrest in June 2016 by slipping out of an FBI ankle bracelet.[10]

On June 14, 2017, Jeffs was arrested by the FBI in Yankton, South Dakota.[11]

On September 20, 2017, Jeffs pleaded guilty as part of a plea deal to one count of defrauding the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) one count of failure to appear in court, while a money laundering charge was dismissed.[12] Jeffs was sentenced on December 13, 2017, to nearly five years of prison, three years of probation, and $1 million in restitution.[5] He was monitored by the Phoenix Residential Reentry Management field office, and was released on March 15, 2021.[13]

Notes

  1. ↑ "Jeffs' brother will take over: Ex-FLDS member". CBS News. August 5, 2011. Retrieved February 26, 2012.
  2. ↑ Dobner, Jennifer (April 22, 2011). "New FLDS commerce filings support Warren Jeffs presidency". The Deseret News. Retrieved February 26, 2012.
  3. ↑ "FLDS bishops take appeal to Utah Supreme Court". The Deseret News. Associated Press. November 30, 2010. Retrieved February 26, 2012.
  4. ↑ Whitehurst, Lindsay (April 27, 2012). "Reports: Warren Jeffs boots brother from polygamous sect's pulpit". The Salt Lake Tribune. Retrieved April 18, 2014.
  5. 1 2 "Lyle Jeffs, one-time leader of Utah polygamous sect, sentenced to prison for food stamp fraud, absconding". The Associated Press. Salt Lake Tribune. December 13, 2017. Retrieved March 18, 2018.
  6. ↑ Jeffs, Brent W. (2009). Lost Boy. New York: Broadway Books. ISBN 978-0767931779.
  7. 1 2 3 4 "Judge finds Warren Jeffs' brothers in contempt". The Associated Press. Salt Lake Tribune. April 9, 2015. Retrieved April 30, 2015.
  8. 1 2 Carlisle, Nate (September 17, 2014). "Here's more on federal investigation into FLDS child labor". Salt Lake Tribune. Retrieved April 30, 2015.
  9. ↑ "FLDS Church Members Fined $2 Million for Alleged Child Labor Violations". ABC News. May 8, 2015. Retrieved May 8, 2015.
  10. ↑ "Polygamist leader Lyle Jeffs used olive oil to escape from custody, FBI says". July 11, 2016.
  11. ↑ Eliott C. McLaughlin; Carma Hassan (June 15, 2017). "FBI: Tip yields arrest of polygamist Mormon sect leader Lyle Jeffs". CNN.
  12. ↑ "Polygamist Lyle Jeffs pleads guilty in food stamp fraud, absconding case". The Associated Press. Salt Lake Tribune. September 20, 2017. Retrieved March 18, 2018.
  13. ↑ Bureau of Prisons Inmate Locator 24426-081. Retrieved April 5, 2021.
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