Five years ago , Warren Jeffs was charged with sex crimes resulting from the polygamous marriages he arranged for his followers in the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints ( FLDS ) .
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year ago warren jeffs charge sex crime result polygamous marriage he arrange his follower fundamentalist church jesus christ day saints flds
Five years ago , Warren Jeffs was charged with sex crimes resulting from the polygamous marriages he <m> arranged </m> for his followers in the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints ( FLDS ) .
http : / / content . time . com / time / nation / article / 0 , 8599 , 1996250 , 00 . html
The Strange Legal Trip of Polygamist Warren Jeffs
Saturday , June 12 , 2010
Five years ago , Warren Jeffs was charged with sex crimes resulting from the polygamous marriages he <m> arranged </m> for his followers in the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints ( FLDS ) .
Jeffs then began a circular journey through the jailhouses and courtrooms of the west .
This week , the self - styled prophet awoke to the promise of a change of scenery - but not a change of fortune .
An Arizona judge dismissed the original charges against Jeffs , the very charges that had catapulted him into national headlines .
But the dismissal has only cleared the way for Texas authorities to get their hands on him to face even more serious charges .
"Extradition proceedings against Warren Jeffs have commenced , " Lauri Saathoff , a spokesperson for Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott told TIME .
Jeffs has already spent more time in an Arizona county jail cell than he would have spent in prison if found guilty of the original charges : arranging and performing marriages between two underage girls and their older male relatives , thus being an accomplice to sexual misconduct with minors .
The prosecutor in the case said the two victims no longer wanted to pursue the charges , making a prosecution impractical .
Jeffs' attorney , Mike Picarretta , hinted at "irregularities" and said the cases would have been dropped years ago had they involved someone less well - known than his client .
But he doesn't face imminent release .
Arizona had put its charges on hold while Jeffs was prosecuted in Utah on similar charges .
In September 2007 a Utah jury found him guilty of two counts of being an accomplice to rape by performing a marriage involving an underage girl .
He was given two five - years - to - life terms , moved to Utah state prison and then back to Arizona to await trial on the charges in that state .
Now Texas wants him .
State officials are not revealing when Jeffs , 54 , will be moved , but Mohave County Sheriff Tom Sheahan is under Arizona court orders to act speedily .
The sheriff says he hopes Jeffs will be out of his jail by this week's end .
"He's been a problem inmate since we had him , " Sheahan told the San Angelo ( Texas ) Standard - Times .
"Mr . Jeffs was a handful from day one with his self - inflicted hunger strikes . "
Jeffs served as president and prophet of the Fundamentalist Church of the Jesus Christ of the Latter Day Saints after his father , Rulon Jeffs , died in 2002 .
In June 2005 , days after being indicted in Arizona on the charges of being an accomplice to sexual conduct with a minor , Jeffs fled the Colorado City , Arizona , area , home to a large FLDS community .
A warrant was issued for his arrest and he was placed on the FBI's 10 Most Wanted list .
Fourteen months later , he was arrested outside Las Vegas , Nevada , and began his journey from court to court and jail to jail .
Jeffs' defenders claim he is a victim of religious persecution .
He has spent much of his time in jail talking about his faith , fasting and praying .
Tall , slender , with a wide - eyed gaze that seems to compel allegiance among his FLDS followers , Jeffs is a calm presence in court , but his life behind bars has been more tumultuous .
Ill from fasting , his knees bleeding and sore from prolonged prayer sessions , he has been hospitalized and force - fed several times .
He has also been inconsistently penitent .
"I am one of the most wicked men on the face of the earth since the days of Father Adam , " Jeffs can be heard saying on a tape recorded by authorities at the Purgatory Jail in St . George , Utah .
Still , Jeffs' attorneys are pledging to fight extradition and also have an appeal of the Utah case pending before the state supreme court .
They also may seek a new trial based on recently uncovered evidence - now under investigation by the Utah Attorney General's Office - that some medical records in the trial may not have been original documents , but reconstructed ones .
Jeffs' legal team says the Utah case must be resolved before their client is moved to Texas .
The ordeal also has been difficult for his alleged victims , says Roger Hoole , an attorney for Elissa Wall and Susie Barlow , former FLDS members and child brides .
"They have been reviled .
They are hated and they have been scapegoated" in the FLDS community , Hoole told TIME .
The FLDS communities in northern Arizona and southern Utah have strong , deep roots to the region going back to the mid - 19th century .
Many families bear the same name - evidence of generations of intermarriage - and former FLDS members say communal wealth is used by the leadership to maintain power and punish .
Witnesses have refused to testify in the cases against Jeffs .
Texas prosecutors have sidestepped that problem by using genetic evidence and extensive church documents seized during an April , 2008 raid at the FLDS Yearning for Zion Ranch in West Texas .
Jeffs was indicted in July , 2008 , by a Schleicher County grand jury in Eldorado , Texas , home to the YFZ Ranch .
The state authorities removed more than 400 children from the ranch , plus boxes of evidence , some of which purport to show Jeffs kissing child brides .
He is facing charges of aggravated sexual assault , sexual assault and bigamy charges which could result in at least one life sentence .
If extradited , he will join 12 other FLDS defendants charged with similar offenses .
In a steady march beginning last October , five FLDS members have been convicted of felonies and received sentences ranging from seven to 75 years .
A sixth trial is just getting under way in the small Eldorado courthouse and six more men await trail - seven if Jeffs finds himself in a West Texas jail .