Polygamous sect leader Lyle Jeffs has fled home confinement in Salt Lake City after he was let out of jail pending trial on Charges in a multimillion-dollar food stamp fraud scheme.
Less than two weeks after a judge granted Jeffs a release from jail as he awaits trial on fraud charges, the leader of the fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is missing.
Jeffs was to confine himself to his home in Salt Lake County, with a few exceptions. He was also fitted with an ankle monitor. Southern Utah private investigator Sam Brower:
“The fact that he left is not a surprise to me or anybody that’s work around the FLDS before. What is a surprise to me is that the court would turn him loose.”
While Brower acknowledges that Jeffs may have left the country, he also says it would not surprise him if Jeffs remains very nearby, as fleeing to a foreign country can also present certain disadvantages to one so used to a comfortable, privileged life.
A warrant for Jeffs' arrest was issued Monday afternoon, U.S. District Judge Ted Stewart released Jeffs from jail June 9 after several previous requests were denied.
