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American felon and FLDS bishop From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Lyle Jeffs is the brother of Warren Jeffs and a bishop in the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, commonly referred to as the FLDS Church.[1] He has been referred to as his brother's "special counselor" in some church documents.[2]
Lyle Steed Jeffs | |
---|---|
Born | January 17, 1960 |
Nationality | American |
Known for | FLDS involvement |
Parent(s) | Rulon Jeffs and Marilyn Steed |
Relatives | Brothers Warren, Seth, Nephi; nephews Brent W. Jeffs, Helaman Jeffs |
Jeffs was the FLDS bishop for both Hildale, Utah, and Colorado City, Arizona.[3] According to The Salt Lake Tribune, he was removed from office in 2012.[4] He was convicted and sentenced in 2017 to five years in prison for orchestrating a welfare fraud scheme.[5]
Lyle is the son of Rulon Jeffs, who was president of the FLDS Church from 1986 until his death in 2002.[6] Lyle is also the uncle of author and ex-FLDS member Brent W. Jeffs.
On April 9, 2015, U.S. District Judge David Sam held Lyle Jeffs in contempt of court.[7] In 2012, the United States Department of Labor began an investigation into the role of the FLDS Church and Jeffs in suspected child labor violations.[8][7] A CNN report claimed that children were used to harvest nuts at the Southern Utah Pecan Ranch in 2012.[8][7] Judge Sam ruled that Lyle Jeffs and his brother Nephi disobeyed subpoenas requiring them to answer questions from Labor Department investigators.[7]
On April 20, 2015, the U.S. Department of Labor assessed fines totaling $1.96 million against a group of FLDS church members, including Lyle Jeffs, for alleged labor violations during the church's 2012 pecan harvest at an orchard near Hurricane, Utah.[9]
Jeffs allegedly escaped house arrest in June 2016 by slipping out of an FBI ankle bracelet.[10]
On June 14, 2017, Jeffs was arrested by the FBI in Yankton, South Dakota.[11]
On September 20, 2017, Jeffs pleaded guilty as part of a plea deal to one count of defrauding the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) one count of failure to appear in court, while a money laundering charge was dismissed.[12] Jeffs was sentenced on December 13, 2017, to nearly five years of prison, three years of probation, and $1 million in restitution.[5] He was monitored by the Phoenix Residential Reentry Management field office, and was released on March 15, 2021.[13]
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