Fugitive polygamist sect leader caught near Las Vegas

[frigidmagi]

CNN

LAS VEGAS, Nevada (CNN) -- Nevada state troopers found one of the FBI's most wanted fugitives, along with wigs, cell phones, laptop computers and about $50,000 in cash, on a highway north of Las Vegas, authorities said Monday.

Polygamist sect leader Warren Steed Jeffs, 50, was a passenger in a red 2007 Cadillac Escalade that was pulled over along Interstate 15 shortly after 9 p.m. (7 p.m. ET) Monday.

Jeffs initially gave the troopers an alias before acknowledging who he was, said Steven M. Martinez, FBI Special Agent in Charge of the agency's Las Vegas office. (Watch how a traffic stop turned up one of the FBI's Most Wanted -- 2:32)

Jeffs faces charges of unlawful flight to avoid prosecution in Utah and Arizona, sexual conduct with a minor, conspiracy to commit sexual conduct with a minor and rape as an accomplice, according to the FBI Web site.

He has been called a religious zealot and dangerous extremist by critics and former members of his church.

Authorities would not reveal the alias Jeffs used or identify the trooper who pulled over the Cadillac SUV. The trooper was a member of a team trained by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to spot suspicious vehicles, authorities said.

The Escalade was stopped because its temporary tag, issued in Colorado, was not clearly visible, said George Togliatti, Nevada's director of public safety. "These troopers are really highly trained," Togliatti said. "When you get a situation like this, you just bubble inside."

The trooper noted a passenger's resemblance to Jeffs, but a positive identification could not be immediately made because the state's computers were down, Togliatti said. When asked for identification, Jeffs offered only a contact lens receipt from another state that identified him as someone else, said John Lewis, FBI special agent-in-charge in Phoenix.

Two other occupants, later identified as one of Jeffs' wives, Naomi Jeffs, and a brother, Isaac Steed Jeffs, were questioned and released Tuesday morning.
Jeffs alleges religious persecution

Inside the Escalade, investigators found "at least $54,000 in cash," 15 cell phones, four portable radios, a duffel bag "containing numerous unopened envelopes suspected of containing additional cash," three wigs, several pairs of sunglasses, four laptops, a GPS device, a police scanner and gift cards worth about $10,000, Lewis said.

Also found in the car was "material identified as being associated with a prophet, and there was also material in the car that the officers viewed that suggested one of the occupants could well have been Warren Jeffs," he added.

Isaac Jeffs was driving the Escalade, state Trooper Kevin Honea told The Associated Press. An FBI agent was summoned to confirm Warren Jeffs' identity, Honea told AP.

Warren Jeffs was "cordial" but uncooperative during questioning, contending he was being subjected to "religious prosecution." The interview ended about 5 a.m., Lewis said.

Jeffs was booked into the Clark County jail and is awaiting a federal court hearing on the fugitive warrant.

There was a $100,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of Jeffs, who was placed on the FBI's 10 Most Wanted list in May.

Utah and Arizona authorities have not yet decided where Jeffs first will face charges, an FBI official said.

"He is currently being held on a federal warrant. It would be conceivable that he could be prosecuted in federal court, U.S. Attorney Brett Tolman said at a news conference in Salt Lake City, Utah. "That determination has not been made and there are factors that have to be analyzed."

One of the key factors, he added, is a concern that Jeffs would become a fugitive again if released on bail.

Utah Attorney General Mark Shurtleff said federal and state authorities would work together ahead of any prosecution, promising there would be no turf battle.
'This is not a rush to glory'

In Arizona, Attorney General Terry Goddard said the jurisdiction most ready to prosecute Jeffs would probably get the case first.

"This is not a rush to glory," he told reporters in Phoenix.

Jeffs is the leader of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, based in Colorado City, Arizona. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, the official Mormon church, has no ties with the FLDS. (Watch how Warren Jeffs lorded over his followers -- 4:28)

Goddard said the local sheriff near the FLDS compound told him there were no signs of trouble among Jeff's followers and family following his arrest.

"It's clearly a potentially explosive situation, and we have to take precautions," he said.

Polygamy is freely practiced in the remote FLDS enclave.

During the four years Jeffs has led the sect, the number of underage marriages, some involving girls as young as 13, escalated into the hundreds, church dissidents said. People expelled from the community said young men were sent away to avoid competition for brides. Older men were cast out and their wives and children were reassigned by Jeffs to new husbands and fathers, the former members said.

"If this will bring an end to that, that will be a good thing," Ward Jeffs, an older half-brother of Warren, told AP. "We're excited for the people down there, but we're very concerned about who might step up and take the leadership role."

Jeffs had been an elusive target, partly because he traveled among several states, Canada and Mexico, according to the FBI.

Somebody get those troopers a beer! I would like to note... We're not hammering you for your religious beliefs Jeff, you can pray to a fucking vaccum cleaner in this country if you want. But having sex with kids, exiling teenage boys and breaking up families is against the damn law and rightfully so. And when you break the law, you get punished. No matter who you pray to.

[Comrade Tortoise]

I have but one thing to say... OK several things, all in caps.

CRUCIFY HIM! CRUCIFY HIM! DESTROY THE CHILD-RAPING ABOMINATION!!

[Josh]

Okay, now what happens to the loonies out by El Dorado? So far as I've heard, Jeffs practiced the 'no clear successor' policy of job security.