Lyle Jeffs Gets Prison For Role In Food Stamp Fraud Scheme

SALT LAKE CITY, UT — A federal judge on Wednesday sentenced former polygamous sect leader Lyle Jeffs to nearly five years in prison for his role in carrying out an elaborate food stamp fraud scheme and for escaping home confinement as he awaited trial. U.S. District Judge Ted Stewart in Salt Lake City said Jeffs deserved the sentence because his actions showed he doesn't respect America's laws. The judge said Jeffs puts his allegiance to his brother and the sect's imprisoned prophet, Warren Jeffs, above everything else.

Lyle Jeffs' religious beliefs provide context for his decision to follow his brother's orders, the judge said, but don't justify the fact that he "cheated" taxpayers out of government funds.

Lyle Jeffs is lifelong member of the Mormon offshoot group Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, based on the Utah-Arizona border.

"Mr. Jeffs is an adult. He knows right from wrong," Stewart, the judge said.

Prosecutors accused Lyle Jeffs of running a scheme to divert some $11 million in food-stamp benefits to a communal storehouse and front companies.

Prosecutor Robert Lund asked for the maximum five-year sentence to send a message to Lyle Jeffs and other sect leaders that a "culture of corruption" in recent years won't be tolerated.

Lyle Jeffs was also ordered to pay $1 million in restitution. He had previously pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit benefits fraud and failure to appear.

Lyle Jeffs, 57, spoke briefly and said he accepted responsibility for his mistakes and that he erred in not properly researching food stamp fraud laws.

"I do your honor humbly and respectfully say that I acknowledge my mistakes and decision-making," said Lyle Jeffs, his hands and ankles shackled. "I do humbly accept my responsibly for my actions. I don't blame anyone."

His attorney Kathryn Nester said the scheme wasn't malicious but meant to ensure everyone in the group had food to eat as part of the group's religious beliefs in communal living.

She said Lyle Jeffs has already suffered tremendously because he's been banned from the sect by his brother Warren Jeffs. That means he's lost his family, his job and his faith.

"If you're looking to humble him, I think we're there," Nester said.

Lyle Jeffs was first charged in February 2016 along with 10 other members of the sect in the fraud scheme. Cases against the others ended in plea deals without prison time or dismissed charges.

Lyle Jeffs compounded his legal problems when he became a fugitive after he slipped off an ankle monitoring device in in June of that year while out on supervised release. He was caught in South Dakota a year later after pawn shop workers spotted him and called police.

His brother Warren Jeffs is serving a life sentence in Texas for sexually assaulting girls he considered wives.

By BRADY McCOMBS, Associated Press

Photo credit: Tooele County Sheriffs Office, via AP