Reward Offered for Capture of Fugitive Polygamist From Utah.
Polygamist From Utah
- By BRADY MCCOMBS, ASSOCIATED PRESS
Federal authorities hope a $50,000 reward announced Monday, coupled with a falling out between polygamist fugitive Lyle Jeffs and his brother — imprisoned sect leader Warren Jeffs— will lead someone to reveal his whereabouts.
Lyle Jeffs has been on the lam after slipping out of his GPS ankle monitor and escaping home confinement in Salt Lake City in June while awaiting trial on food stamp fraud charges.
He was in touch with his brother while on the run and was sent away to repent in July after refusing to follow an order, Eric Barnhart, the FBI's special agent in charge in Salt Lake City, said at a news conference.
Lyle Jeffs was in the sect's community on the Utah-Arizona border when the falling out occurred, and he feared the order could put him at risk of being captured, Barnhart said.
"It could possibly be a fracturing of the leadership," Barnhart said, noting that Lyle Jeffs still has followers willing to keep him concealed. "Somebody with whom he's had a falling out or otherwise may have a different feeling about him — the $50,000 may be what tips the balance for them."
U.S. District Judge Ted Stewart granted Lyle Jeffs supervised release on June 9. He fled less than two weeks later.
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