Polygamous sect leader Lyle Jeffs captured after 1 year
SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — Polygamous sect leader Lyle Jeffs was captured Wednesday while apparently living out of his pickup truck at a marina in southeast South Dakota following nearly a year on the run after his escape from home confinement in Utah pending trial on food stamp fraud charges.
Authorities had been looking for Jeffs since June 18, 2016, when he escaped from home confinement in Salt Lake City pending trial on charges in an alleged multimillion-dollar food stamp fraud scheme.
South Dakota Department of Public Safety spokesman Tony Mangan said that the state Highway Patrol was asked to respond Wednesday and transported Jeffs to Sioux Falls at the request of the FBI.
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.
Known to the faithful as "R23," the compound sits along a gravel road, secluded by tall pine trees, a privacy fence and a guard tower.
A Republican state lawmaker this year frustrated with what he viewed as inaction over the sect's outpost in his district unsuccessfully pushed legislators to look into the compound.