Several top leaders from Warren Jeffs' polygamous sect were arrested Tuesday on federal accusations of food stamp fraud and money laundering — marking one of the biggest blows to the group in years.

Prosecutors say the sect based on the Utah-Arizona border diverted funds from Utah's nutrition assistance program for inappropriate use by its leaders.

A total of 11 people were charged in the scheme, including Lyle Jeffs and Seth Jeffs, top-ranking leaders of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (FLDS) and brothers of imprisoned sect leader Warren Jeffs.

Warren Jeffs is serving a life sentence in Texas for sexually assaulting his 12- and 15-year-old child brides at a secretive church compound in that state.

Several top leaders from Warren Jeffs' polygamous sect were arrested Tuesday on federal accusations of food stamp fraud and money laundering. Above Warren Jeffs is pictured center in 2006

Lyle Jeffs runs the day-to-day operations in the polygamous community of Hildale for FLDS, while Seth Jeffs leads a branch of the group in South Dakota.

Wallace Jeffs, Warren Jeffs' half-brother, was expelled from FLDS and said that the latest arrests will impact the church.

'If they're finally gong to prosecute Lyle and the leaders of the church, it will eventually bring the church down,' Wallace Jeffs told The Salt Lake Tribune. 'This pretty much cuts the head off the snake.'

Federal, state and local police served search warrants and made arrests Tuesday in Hildale, Salt Lake City and Custer County, South Dakota.

According to the Tribune, each of the people indicted Tuesday face one count of conspiring to defraud the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and one charge of conspiracy to commit money laundering.

FLDS church leaders allegedly ordered members to use their SNAP benefits to purchase food that was then to be given to the church's storehouse, which is a communal clearinghouse that collects and distributes commodities to the community.

Lyle Jeffs (left) runs the day-to-day operations in the polygamous community of Hildale, Utah for FLDS. He is expected to appear in court Wednesday in Salt Lake City. Seth Jeffs (right) leads a branch of the group in South Dakota

The indictment against the 11 FLDS members alleges that they forced church members to obtain their food and household items soley through using the storehouse.

Millions of dollars in SNAP benefits per year are provided to a large percentage of FLDS Church members living in Short Creek, according to the news release.

'This indictment is not about religion. This indictment is about fraud,' U.S. Attorney John Huber said in a statement.

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'This indictment charges a sophisticated group of individuals operating in the Hildale­-Colorado City community who conspired to defraud a program intended to help low ­income individuals and families purchase food.'

Warren Jeffs is serving a life sentence in Texas for sexually assaulting his 12- and 15-year-old child brides at a secretive church compound in that state

'This is what will really bring down the church,' Wallace Jeffs told the Tribune. 'The church is basically just a money laundering criminal organization.

'The fact that they're actually targeting them financially and getting them for these frauds and these money laundering issues is going to bring the church to its knees.'

Hildale resident Andrew Chatwin said officers went into five businesses Tuesday, including a dairy store, produce store and a contractor.

'I'm watching them break in doors,' Chatwin said.

The raids were the federal government's latest front in targeting church leaders. A civil rights trial against the twin polygamous towns of Hildale and Colorado City, Arizona, is underway in Phoenix, in which prosecutors say they discriminated against nonbelievers by denying them housing, water services and police protection.

The communities deny the allegations.

Private investigator Sam Brower, who has spent years investigating the group, says the case targets a new hierarchy in the group.

Lyle Jeffs is expected to make his initial court appearance Wednesday in a federal courtroom in Salt Lake City.

This July 8, 2015, aerial photo shows a view of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints compound near Pringle, South Dakota. Seth Jeffs leads a branch of the polygamous group in the state