Eleven leaders from Warren Jeff’s polygamous group arrested

[frogmarch]

http://chadrad.com/newsstory.cfm?story=39061

(SD)-Leader Of Pringle (South Dakota) Polygamous Compound Arrested In Food Stamp Fraud

SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH (AP) - Eleven leaders from Warren Jeffs' polygamous sect, the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, were arrested Tuesday in 3 states on federal allegations of food stamp fraud and money laundering.
...
Prosecutors want the defendants arrested in the food-stamp case held without bail, filing a 14-page brief accusing the sect of developing an elaborate system for moving and heading members to avoid detection by law enforcement including aliases, disguises, false ID, and using pre-paid debit cards.

The U-S Attorneys involved in the case say the defendants orchestrated a scheme that ran nearly 5 years and instructed members on how to use food-stamp benefits illegally for the benefit of the faith - and taught them how to avoid getting caught.

It’s about time.

[OldHippieChick]

1. Many times the wheels of justice grind slowly,

but they grind toward justice.

[frogmarch]

3. I am glad that this time

they did, and that justice will be done. I hope so anyway.

[ghostsinthemachine]

2. Be sure to read this week's Rolling Stone

Chilling article on this very subject.

[frogmarch]

4. Thanks! I found it.

http://www.rollingstone.com/culture/news/inside-the-order-one-mormon-cults-secret-empire-20110615?page=2

Wait, this appears to be an old article from 2011. Oh, well, it's well worth a read, I am sure.

[ghostsinthemachine]

5. Not the article.

this is the recent issue.

[frogmarch]

7. Yes, I saw that after

I started reading it. I'll get the new issue. Thanks!

[ghostsinthemachine]

6. Found it. Must read...

On a January morning in Phoenix, Willie Jessop enters the courtroom through a side door, nods at the lawyers and saunters up to the witness stand. He's a big man – six feet three, well over 200 pounds – and, as usual, is dressed in black. He glances at the jury, a faint smile crossing his lips. In the past, Jessop has been the staunchest defender of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, a polygamist offshoot of Mormonism. When he used to take the stand to explain their way of life, a few sister wives in pastel prairie dresses would always be on hand to show support. But today, they're gone. That's because Jessop, the former spokesman for the FLDS and one-time bodyguard to its jailed prophet, Warren Jeffs, has turned against his church. He's not here to defend the FLDS; he's here to take it down.



The prosecutor asks why Jessop would turn on FLDS leadership to become a key witness for the Department of Justice. Jessop's face reddens as he leans forward. "Because those sons of bitches were raping girls in Texas, and they knew it and I knew it," he says, "and that battle is still raging today."

It's Week Two in a federal trial currently underway against the adjoining towns of Colorado City, Arizona, and Hildale, Utah, and increasingly disturbing and bizarre revelations are coming to light. Known collectively as Short Creek, the two towns have a total population of about 8,000, the majority FLDS, making the community the largest polygamist enclave in America. For generations, the FLDS leadership has had total control over this desert outpost on the edge of the Grand Canyon, selecting the mayors, the city council and even the town marshals without any problem. But in recent years, the DOJ has been investigating allegations that the two towns have been violating residents' civil rights, allowing the church to use public officials to run members who left the faith – "apostates" in FLDS parlance – out of town, denying utility hookups and even spying on citizens. The trial is slated to end in late February or early March and, if the feds are successful, criminal charges could follow, helping to end FLDS control over Short Creek.

Read more: http://www.rollingstone.com/culture/features/a-polygamist-cults-last-stand-the-rise-and-fall-of-warren-jeffs-20160209#ixzz4192VexsB
Follow us: @rollingstone on Twitter | RollingStone on Facebook



http://www.rollingstone.com/culture/features/a-polygamist-cults-last-stand-the-rise-and-fall-of-warren-jeffs-20160209

[frogmarch]

8. Oh, good!

Thanks very much for finding it.