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 SALT LAKE CITY -- The FBI is revealing how Fundamentalist LDS Church leader Lyle Jeffs managed to escape from custody. 
 
 "He used a substance which may have been olive oil to lubricate the GPS tracking band and slip it off his ankle," Eric Barnhart, the Special Agent-in-Charge of the Salt Lake City field office of the FBI, said in an interview with FOX 13. "The damage to the bracelet was not such to trigger the full array of alarms that law enforcement or the U.S. Marshal's Service would have responded to." 
 
 Jeffs, a bishop in the FLDS Church, was released from jail last month by a federal judge after his trial on food stamp fraud and money laundering charges was delayed. He's among 11 people charged in a massive food stamp fraud scheme where prosecutors allege FLDS members were ordered to hand over food stamp benefits to leaders to do with as they wished. Prosecutors claim the scheme exceeds $12 million in taxpayer dollars. 
 
 Federal prosecutors tried to keep Jeffs in jail, arguing he was a flight risk. After U.S. District Court Judge Ted Stewart ordered Jeffs released, he was told to wear a GPS monitoring device and serve home confinement. Barnhart said FBI agents believe that at some point on June 18, Jeffs oiled himself up and slid out of the ankle bracelet. 
 
 "Checks were done with Mr. Jeffs and at some point, on the 18th, to a satisfactory level the bracelet was still intact where it was supposed to be," he told FOX 13. "The evening hours, though, that changed. Attempts were made to contact him to no avail. The next day he was found to be missing." 
 
 Jeffs was staying at a home in the northwest part of Salt Lake City. When FOX 13 visited the property, people who appeared to be members of the church -- girls wearing the distinctive prairie dresses and boys in long-sleeved shirts -- were outside. They ran inside. Neighbors said they have been living at the home for nearly a year now. 
 
 "A lot of polygamists coming and going," said Anthony Thomasson. 
 
 Barnhart said the night Jeffs vanished from the home, a newer-model Mustang pulled into the garage. 
 
 "The garage door went shut. At some point, that vehicle left. We don't know who was driving it, we weren't able to get a plate, we don't know who else was in that vehicle," he said. "If that happens to jog any memories, we just urge the public don't self-select, don't filter stuff out, contact us." 
 
 Thomasson told FOX 13 he saw a green-colored Mustang. 
 
 "You could see two people in the car. I waved at them, got a wave back like your neighbor, 'See you tomorrow,'" he said. "Then on the news it came out he fled." 
 
 The FBI said it has been in contact with people in the FLDS strongholds of Hildale, Utah, and Colorado City, Ariz., about Jeffs and his whereabouts. Barnhart said he did not believe Jeffs would travel down there, given the scrutiny on the communities. Law enforcement in other states have said they have been on alert since Jeffs vanished; the FLDS Church has compounds in Pringle, South Dakota; Mancos, Colo.; and Bountiful, British Columbia in Canada. 
 
 Barnhart refused to say if FBI agents had questioned Lyle Jeffs' brother, imprisoned FLDS leader Warren Jeffs, who is serving life in a Texas prison for child sex assault related to underage "marriages." 
 
 "We will take every investigative avenue that we think will bring Lyle Jeffs into custody," he said. "We'll just leave it at that." 
 
 The FBI said anyone with information on Lyle Jeffs' whereabouts is urged to call 801-579-1400. ||||| SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — Polygamous sect leader Lyle Jeffs was captured Wednesday night in South Dakota after being on the run for nearly a year after escaping from home confinement in Utah pending trial on food stamp fraud charges. 
 
 The FBI announced the capture Thursday morning with a Tweet: "#ARRESTED: FLDS leader Lyle Jeffs in custody after nearly a year on the lam." 
 
 FBI spokeswoman Sandra Barker confirmed the arrest and said more details would be provided later in the day. 
 
 The group, known as the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, is based in a small community on the Utah-Arizona border, but it also has a small compound in far west South Dakota. 
 
 Authorities had been looking for Jeffs since June of 2016 when he slipped out of his GPS ankle monitor and fled from a Salt Lake City house where he was on supervised home release. Jeffs and 10 others from the sect were charged with fraud and money laundering in a multimillion dollar food stamp fraud scheme. 
 
 The FBI had issued a $50,000 reward and a wanted poster with bold red lettering saying Jeffs should be considered armed and dangerous. It was issued a decade after his brother Warren Jeffs was featured on a similar poster. Warren Jeffs is now serving a life sentence in a Texas prison. 
 
 Lyle Jeffs was the last of the defendants in the food stamp fraud case still behind bars when U.S. District Judge Ted Stewart reversed his earlier decision and granted Jeffs his release on June 9. Prosecutors opposed that move, arguing Jeffs was a flight risk. 
 
 Lyle Jeffs must now face the pending charges in federal court in Utah. 
 
 While he was a fugitive, nine of the 10 other people charged in the high-profile bust in February 2016 took plea deals while one person had his charges dismissed. 
 
 Prosecutors accused Jeffs and other sect leaders of instructing followers to buy items with their food stamp cards and give them to a church warehouse where leaders decided how to distribute products to followers. They say food stamps were also cashed at sect-owned stores without the users getting anything in return. The money was then diverted to front companies and used to pay thousands for a tractor, truck and other items, prosecutors say. 
 
 The defendants said they were just sharing food as part of their communal living practices.. 
 
 Members of the sect believe polygamy brings exaltation in heaven. The group is an offshoot of mainstream Mormonism, which disavowed polygamy more than 100 years ago. ||||| SALT LAKE CITY — Lyle Jeffs, the acting leader of the Fundamentalist LDS Church and a defendant in a far-reaching fraud case, likely used olive oil as a lubricant to slip out of his ankle monitor and flee federal authorities' reach last month, the FBI said Monday. 
 
 Investigators believe Jeffs removed the GPS tracker from his ankle on June 18, sometime after federal agents communicated with him earlier that day, said Sandra Yi Barker, spokeswoman for the FBI's Salt Lake City Division. 
 
 Because Jeffs slid off the monitor, instead of cutting it, there wasn't sufficient damage to set off any automatic alerts, Barker said. 
 
 "It wasn’t enough to actually sever the fiber-optic connection," she said. 
 
 Authorities who contacted Jeffs earlier in the day didn't physically visit the house where he was staying, according to Barker, but "did have some communication with him." 
 
 Neighbors reported seeing a dark-colored, newer model Ford Mustang pull into the garage of Jeffs' current residence in Salt Lake County on the evening of June 18, Barker said. Neighbors also said the garage door closed, and sometime later the Mustang left the residence, she said. Witnesses had no further description of the vehicle. 
 
 Jeffs and 11 other FLDS leaders were federally indicted in February in an alleged multimillion-dollar food stamp scheme. U.S. District Judge Ted Stewart released him June 9 in advance of his criminal trial, which was slated to begin in October, on the condition that he live in Salt Lake County, wear a GPS monitor and refrain from all contact with any witnesses, victims or co-defendants in the case. 
 
 Prosecutors say Jeffs was instrumental in a scheme designed to divert FLDS Church members' benefits from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program to church leaders. 
 
 The federal indictment also states that Jeffs and others instructed church members to use their SNAP cards as though they were making purchases from church-owned businesses in instances where no actual transactions took place. 
 
 Jeffs, who is believed to be running the FLDS Church on behalf of his imprisoned brother Warren Jeffs, was released after defense attorney Kathryn Nester argued it would violate his rights to hold him in custody until his trial. 
 
 Prosecutors had previously contended that Lyle Jeffs, if released from custody, would utilize extensive resources at his disposal designed to give him safe havens in the U.S., Canada and South America. 
 
 Prosecutors also argued that Lyle Jeffs was a flight risk because he has lived in a motor home and used aliases in order to avoid detection, among other elusive behavior. Leroy Jeffs, an estranged son of Warren Jeffs, said at the time of Lyle Jeffs' arrest that it was "a given" his uncle would flee authorities if granted bail. 
 
 A federal warrant seeking Lyle Jeffs' arrest remains active. Barker said it's possible he is living in one of his "hideout locations out of the country." 
 
 "(But) we're definitely not ruling out the possibility that he’s still in the U.S.," she said, particularly in the West. 
 
 The FBI has received "some valuable tips" but is in need of more information, Barker added. 
 
 "We’d definetely like to remind the public just to remain vigilant," she said. 
 
 Anyone with any information about the case is asked to call the FBI's Salt Lake City Division at 801-579-1400. 
 
 Email: blockhart@deseretnews.com 
 
 Twitter: benlockhartnews ||||| FILE - This Jan. 21, 2015 file photo, Lyle Jeffs leaves the federal courthouse in Salt Lake City. Jeffs, a polygamous sect leader recaptured after a year on the run in a fraud case, pleaded guilty Wednesday,... (Associated Press) 
 
 FILE - This Jan. 21, 2015 file photo, Lyle Jeffs leaves the federal courthouse in Salt Lake City. Jeffs, a polygamous sect leader recaptured after a year on the run in a fraud case, pleaded guilty Wednesday,... (Associated Press) 
 
 SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — The Latest in the case against polygamous sect leader Lyle Jeffs (all times local): 
 
 11:45 a.m. 
 
 A polygamous sect leader is facing up to five years in prison after agreeing to a plea deal in a food-stamp fraud and escape case. 
 
 Lyle Jeffs pleaded guilty to two felony charges Wednesday in an agreement that also called for him to pay $1 million in restitution. 
 
 He's facing between three and five years in prison at a sentencing hearing set for Dec. 13. 
 
 U.S. Attorney for Utah John Huber calls the agreement a fair end to a hard-fought court battle. Jeffs defense attorney declined to comment. 
 
 The 57-year-old Jeffs was arrested nearly a year after he escaped home confinement while awaiting trial in the food-stamp fraud case. 
 
 He pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit benefits fraud and failure to appear. Prosecutors dropped a money-laundering count. 
 
 ___ 
 
 10:38 a.m. 
 
 A polygamous sect leader recaptured after a year on the run has pleaded guilty in escape and food-stamp fraud cases. 
 
 Lyle Jeffs entered the pleas in Salt Lake City's federal court Wednesday 
 
 He was charged in what prosecutors call a multimillion-dollar food-stamp fraud scheme and his escape from home confinement. 
 
 Jeffs was awaiting trial in the food-stamp case when he slipped off his ankle monitor in June 2016. 
 
 He was recaptured in South Dakota this summer after pawning two pairs of pliers while apparently living out of his pickup truck. 
 
 Jeffs was one of 11 members of the polygamous group charged in the case where prosecutors say food-stamp benefits were funneled to pay for things like a tractor and a truck. 
 
 The other defendants have agreed to plea deals or seen the charges dismissed. 
 
 ___ 
 
 9:03 am. 
 
 A polygamous sect leader recaptured after a year on the run in a fraud case is expected to appear in court Wednesday. 
 
 Lyle Jeffs is facing federal charges in what prosecutors call a multimillion-dollar food-stamp fraud scheme as well as his escape from home confinement. 
 
 Jeffs was awaiting trial in the food-stamp case when he escaped from Salt Lake City in June 2016. 
 
 He was recaptured in South Dakota after pawning two pairs of pliers while apparently living out of his pickup truck a year later. 
 
 Jeffs was one of 11 members of the polygamous group charged in the case where prosecutors say food-stamp benefits were funneled to pay for things like a tractor and a truck. 
 
 The other defendants have agreed to plea deals or seen the charges dismissed.
– The brother of jailed polygamous Mormon sect leader Warren Jeffs is on the run from the FBI after using "some sort of lubrication, possibly olive oil," to wriggle out of his ankle monitor, say police. Lyle Jeffs, one of 11 leaders of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints facing fraud and money-laundering charges, had been ordered to remain at his Salt Lake City home except for work, medical appointments, and court hearings, says the FBI. However, a warrant was issued for his arrest last month when the 56-year-old leader vanished from his home. Investigators say a Ford Mustang pulled into Jeffs' garage around 10:30pm on June 18, then left later that night, reports the Salt Lake Tribune. The next day, agents found the GPS monitor but couldn't locate Jeffs. "He used a substance which may have been olive oil to lubricate the GPS tracking band and slip it off his ankle," an agent tells Fox 13. "The damage to the bracelet was not such to trigger the full array of alarms that law enforcement or the US Marshal's Service would have responded to." A judge ordered Jeffs be released from jail on June 9 when his trial for a $12 million food stamp fraud and money-laundering scheme was delayed. Prosecutors—who say food stamps were cashed at sect-owned stores and the money diverted to the church—had argued Jeffs was a flight risk. "Blame the judge for this," one of Jeffs' half-brothers tells the Tribune. "Everybody knew that he was going to do this." Jeffs, who surrendered his passport, could be hiding in FLDS havens in the US, Canada, or South America, reports the Deseret News.