Estimated read time: 3-4 minutes
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
SALT LAKE CITY — Two Fundamentalist LDS Church leaders' allegiance to their imprisoned prophet prompted them to attend meetings they knew would break the terms of a court agreement that kept them out jail pending trial on food stamp fraud charges, federal prosecutors say.
And while defense attorneys admitted Seth Jeffs and John Wayman failed to strictly comply with a judge's order, they argued in a hearing Monday that the two men were trying to help a polygamous community in crisis.
"I believe he has maintained the spirit of the court's order," Jeffs' lawyer, Jay Winward, told U.S. District Judge Ted Stewart.
"The spirit?" a skeptical Stewart replied.
Jeffs and Wayman met four times last month in violation of a court order to not have contact with co-defendants or potential witnesses in the case, prosecutors say. They have been held in jail the past three weeks, and Stewart will decide whether they stay there to await trial.
Prosecutors allege imprisoned FLDS leader Warren Jeffs directed Nephi Jeffs, Seth Jeffs and Wayman to compile a list of former United Order members to interview for rebaptism into the order.
To do that, they met secretly at a Short Creek meetinghouse at 1 a.m. on July 26, according to prosecutors. Authorities say GPS monitoring shows the men met again July 28, 29 and 30.
Many of those former United Order members consecrated their federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program or SNAP benefits to the church as alleged in the indictment, according to court documents. Prosecutors say that raises concerns that the defendants will tamper with prospective witnesses.
Wayman's attorney, Jim Bradshaw, contended that the instructions to Wayman and Seth Jeffs were to compile the list and invite those on it to a meeting. They did not discuss the court case, he said.
Related:
"This is a community in crisis," he said, adding thousands of FLDS members in southern Utah have been removed from their homes and that food is in short supply.
The community, he said, welcomed the meeting because it would bring structure to deal with all the problems.
"They get to have a religion. The court can't stop them from doing that," Bradshaw said.
Assistant U.S. attorney Rob Lund told the judge that religion is "inextricably" tied to the case and that Seth Jeffs' and Wayman's religious views dictated their actions. He cited a note they sent to Warren Jeffs saying they love him more than life itself.
Lund argued that if Warren Jeffs, whom he described as the "keyholder," told them to flee or obstruct justice they would do it because they are more beholding to him than the court.
Winward said the government is using a religion as a sword to say that because Seth Jeffs and Wayman believe in a prophet they can't be trusted. He said FLDS members "believe in a book and 138 sections of scripture that tells them to obey and honor the law."
Although he didn't rule Monday, Stewart appeared to be leaning toward keeping the two men behind bars. He said Seth Jeffs and Wayman rationalized that they were helping their religion when they violated his orders. He asked what would prevent them from fleeing or obstructing justice if they thought that would help their religion.
Seth Jeffs and Wayman are among 11 FLDS members who were charged in February with misusing food stamps and diverting millions of dollars to front companies and buy equipment. They have pleaded not guilty.
One defendant, Lyle Jeffs, apparently used olive oil to slip off his GPS ankle monitor and flee a Salt Lake County home where he was living in June. Authorities have not found him.
