Brother of Jeffs to Change Plea

Brother of Jeffs to Change Plea


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SALT LAKE CITY (AP) -- The brother of polygamist church leader Warren Jeffs has cut a deal with federal prosecutors who charged him with harboring a fugitive, court documents show.

Documents filed Friday in a Denver federal court show Seth Jeffs is scheduled for a change of plea hearing on May 1 in Colorado's U.S. District Court.

Jeffs, 32, was indicted in November for allegedly providing the means for his fugitive brother to remain in hiding. He pleaded not guilty to the charges.

Details of the plea agreement have not been released.

Jeffs was arrested Oct. 28, 2005 for prostitution and solicitation during a traffic stop near Pueblo, Colo. A man traveling with Jeffs in an SUV said he had been hired for sex.

Inside the car officers found nearly $142,000 in cash, about $7,000 in prepaid credit and phone cards, as well as personal papers belonging to Warren Jeffs.

In an interview with authorities, Seth Jeffs said he knew his brother was wanted and admitted that items addressed to "The Prophet" were intended for his sibling, a court affidavit said.

Seth Jeffs also said he didn't know where his brother was, and stated he wouldn't tell authorities if he did.

Warren Jeffs, 50, is the leader of the Hildale, Utah-based Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, which practices polygamy. Not seen publicly in more than a year, Warren Jeffs has been considered a federal fugitive since June 2005, after authorities in Arizona charged him with allegedly arranging marriages between underage girls and older men who were already married.

Utah authorities recently charged Warren Jeffs with two first-degree felony counts of rape as an accomplice, for allegedly arranging for the marriage of a teenage girl to an older man in Nevada.

------ Information from: The Salt Lake Tribune, http://www.sltrib.com

(Copyright 2006 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

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