SALT LAKE CITY — One of Lyle Jeffs' sons says his father once told him he was confident he was "10 steps ahead of the government."

But as Jeffs was led into a federal courtroom Wednesday, shackled and in a jail jumpsuit, he wouldn't lift his eyes to where his now-estranged son sat in the gallery, and Thomas Jeffs said he knew that the law had finally caught up with him.

"I do feel like it is a necessary thing that has happened, to hopefully make Father and others think about what they've done," Thomas Jeffs said, noting that he believes the fraud charges handed down this week against his father and 10 other Fundamentalist LDS Church leaders and members are "legitimate," considering things he saw before he left the Utah-based polygamous sect almost three years ago.

Thomas Jeffs also agrees with law enforcement that, if his father and others are released on bail, they are prepared to run.

Federal prosecutors say leaders of the FLDS Church have developed such an elaborate system of concealment and ways to avoid detection across several countries, that if they are released from custody they would become extreme flight risks.

This system to avoid being caught was established originally to protect Warren Jeffs, the church's top leader, from prosecution when he was on the run from authorities in 2006, according to detention motions filed in U.S. District Court. Lyle Jeffs is Warren Jeffs' brother.

After attending Wednesday's hearing, Leroy "Roy" Jeffs — an estranged son of Warren Jeffs — said he believes his uncle and other leaders would use the same system his father once did in order to flee from the new charges.

"If they got bail, they'd definitely run. That's a given. They'd run just like my dad ran," Leroy Jeffs said.

Lyle Jeffs and John Wayman are two of the 11 members of the FLDS Church indicted Tuesday on charges of money laundering and food stamps fraud. The two were both arrested in Salt Lake City and pleaded not guilty to the charges Wednesday.

The U.S. Attorney's Office filed a motion, along with more than 180 pages of exhibits to back their arguments, asking to keep those indicted behind bars. Six of the 11 members have so far been taken into custody.

Prosecutors will argue on Friday to keep Wayman in custody as the case advances. Kathryn Nester was appointed as Lyle Jeffs' attorney. She asked that a hearing to detain Jeffs be pushed to March 7 to give her time to review the "unprecedented" and "lengthy" motion.

Wayman's attorney, James Bradshaw, promised a "vigorous defense" for his client's release. He said his client has no intention of fleeing his community.

"FLDS leaders have developed an elaborate system for moving and hiding members of the group in order to avoid law enforcement detection. The system includes a network of homes and apartments known as 'houses of hiding' as well as larger compounds known as 'places of refuge,'" the attorney's office wrote in its motion.

Prosecutors contend the places of refuge can be found throughout the United States and in western Canada, Mexico and locations in South America owned by Lyle Jeffs that reportedly very few FLDS followers have been told about.

"These 'places of refuge' are closed to outsiders, gated and monitored," the motion states. "People in the system use prepaid cellular telephones to route calls through multiple devices so that individuals' locations cannot be identified. The system also includes a secure Internet protocol phone system to provide confidential communication. To facilitate undetected travel, people use vehicles leased or owned by others. People in the system use aliases, disguises and false identification documents. Participants in the system use cash and prepaid debit cards to avoid detection."

One of the places of refuge is in Pringle, South Dakota, according to court documents. Code is used among members when talking about refuge houses, such as R23, which is code for the compound in South Dakota.

A brother of Lyle Jeffs, who is no longer a member of the FLDS Church, told FBI investigators in 2015 that the houses of hiding are really "houses of hostage where young girls and others are kept," according to documents filed in federal court. "The bedrooms all had locks on the outside of the doors."

Other measures taken by FLDS leaders to avoid arrest, according to the court documents, include:

• People assigned to search the Internet and monitor media outlets "to stay ahead of enemies of the church."

• Preparing for police raids during church meetings by strategically placing nine ATVs — each equipped with camouflage clothing — around the meetinghouse, and having other ATVs operated by people wearing the same clothing as the leaders to act as decoys.

• Box trailers with bathrooms built in them were used to transport women across the country.

• The Hildale Fire Department, on at least one occasion, printed false IDs on fire department badges, which were then used to get IDs at Mohave Community College. The two forms of IDs were then used to get government IDs issued by driver license divisions in Utah and Arizona. The same system is feared to have been used to get passports.

Investigators believe Warren Jeffs continues to run the church from his prison cell in Texas where he is serving a life sentence for sexually assaulting two underage followers he took as brides.

The motion also notes that Lyle Jeffs, who prosecutors believe has been enforcing his brother's orders, has in the past: used aliases, lived in a motor home and traveled regularly to avoid being found, facilitated the smuggling of audio recordings of Warren Jeffs out of prison, and facilitated hiding a grand jury witness from the FBI.

A copy of the training Warren Jeffs gave to a group of men in 2005 about places of refuge was included in court documents. In it, Warren Jeffs tells his followers that he had received a revelation from God not to let the government take their homes. He also told them that if they disobey his commands about refuge, they will have the priesthood taken away from them, according to the documents.

Warren Jeffs' followers are "absolutely loyal," the motion states, "either because of genuine devotion, or because of the extraordinary control Warren Jeffs and Lyle Jeffs exercise over their lives."

Related

FLDS leaders indicted in food stamps fraud, money laundering case

Fundamentalist LDS Church leader Lyle Steed Jeffs was among 11 people indicted on federal money laundering and food stamps fraud charges Tuesday as the FBI and local officials raided the twin polygamous border towns of Hildale and Colorado City.

Prosecutors also argue in their motion that FLDS leaders "have access to large amounts of cash" and are willing to forfeit millions of dollars in property rather than appear in court. They point to more than $100 million in assets in Utah and Arizona that were abandoned in a fight over the church's United Effort Plan, a trust that is now run by the state. Church members also abandoned its YFZ Ranch in El Dorado, Texas, that had been appraised at $33.4 million rather than defend allegations that the property had been used for illegal purposes.

Looking at his father's mug shot, Thomas Jeffs said he thought he saw a "smirk." Watching his father's expression in court on Wednesday, however, "I don't think that smirk is there right now," he said.

He called his father "the brain" behind the alleged food stamps fraud, saying he would choose what each family should do with the debit-like cards it received as part of the federal government's Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. SNAP provides assistance to low-income individuals and families to purchase food products.

The indictment alleges that FLDS leaders directed members to divert their SNAP benefits to the church, "amounting to millions of dollars in benefits per year."

"When I was in the church, I asked him why they were doing that," Thomas Jeffs said of the practice. "People would take their food cards, go down and purchase food items, and give them to the storehouse and different things like that. For every person it was different, it was just what Dad decided should happen with their food card."

Former Utah Attorney General Mark Shurtleff said Wednesday that there have been indications of welfare fraud and tax evasion in the twin border towns of Hildale and Colorado City dating back to his time in office when the state pushed to indict Warren Jeffs and have him placed on the FBI Most Wanted list. At the time he sought support from federal investigators, he says, but was mostly ignored.

"As far as getting the FBI, U.S. Attorney's Office, the (Department of Justice), involved in these federal type crimes, which is what they've done now recently, they weren't interested," Shurtleff said. "It wasn't for want of trying on our part, we don't know."

FLDS leaders direct members in most daily decisions, right down to how to dress or what to eat, Thomas Jeffs said. With Lyle Jeffs and others in custody, he believes the people of Hildale and Colorado City are likely confused and suffering, not knowing who to turn to for direction, but that it won't take long for the next leader to take over.

Thomas Jeffs said he thinks his uncles will likely assume leadership. He accused them Wednesday of involvement in the fraud and said he believes they should be arrested as well.

"They're in the middle of all this just as much as my dad is, and they'll be the next ones the people will really look to. If (law enforcement) can take them away, then the people will have to start thinking for themselves," Thomas Jeffs said. "It's going to hurt the people, no doubt about it, but it's going to be what's necessary for the people to speak for themselves."

When he learned of the raid Tuesday, Leroy Jeffs said he was initially skeptical. There have been raids since he left the FLDS Church two years ago, he said, but they have had apparently little impact on the FLDS faithful.

"It will probably help a few more people realize what the deal is, but it's still going to be years and years before everyone is fully going to come out," Leroy Jeffs said. "It feels like they might get somewhere with this."

Lyle Jeffs, 56; Wayman, 56; Kimball Dee Barlow, 51; Winford Johnson Barlow, 50; Rulon Mormon Barlow, 45; Ruth Peine Barlow, 41; and Preston Yates Barlow, 41, all of Hildale; along with Seth Steed Jeffs, 42, of Custer, South Dakota; and Nephi Steed Allred; Hyrum Bygnal Dutson, 55; and Kristal Meldrum Dutson, 55, all of Colorado City, Arizona, were charged with conspiracy to commit SNAP benefits fraud and conspiracy to commit money laundering in a two-count indictment.

Winford Barlow, Kristal Dutson and Ruth Barlow appeared before a federal judge in St. George Wednesday and also pleaded not guilty. Detention hearings for them were set for Monday. Seth Jeffs' scheduled appearance in a South Dakota federal courtroom was pushed to Monday. The others had not yet been arrested.

Contributing: Andrew Adams

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