DENVER – LAWFUEL – Press Release Service – Bill Leone, United States Attorney for the District of
Colorado, and Richard C. Powers, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal
Bureau of Investigation’s Denver Office, announced that SETH STEED
JEFFS, age 33, of Hildale, Utah, was sentenced today by U.S. District
Court Judge Robert E. Blackburn to serve 3 years of supervised probation
for harboring and aiding and abetting the harboring of his brother,
Warren Jeffs, a federal fugitive. SETH JEFFS was also ordered to pay a
$2,500 fine, as well as a $100 Special Assessment, which goes to a
general victims of crime fund.
SETH JEFFS was originally charged by Criminal Complaint on
October 31, 2005. He was indicted by a federal grand jury on November
15, 2005. He pled guilty before U.S. District Court Judge Blackburn on
May 1, 2006. Items seized and held as evidence after SETH JEFFS was
arrested are in the custody of the FBI. The status of the seized items
are the subject of separate litigation, and will be determined at a
later date.
According to the original affidavit in support of the Criminal
Complaint, as well as the subsequent stipulated facts outlined in the
plea agreement, on October 28, 2005 at approximately 3:00 a.m., the
Pueblo County Colorado Sheriff’s Office received a citizen report about
a suspected intoxicated driver on Interstate 25 near US 50 in Southern
Colorado. A Pueblo County Sheriff’s Deputy located and stopped the
suspicious vehicle. The driver of the vehicle, Nathaniel Steed Allred,
and the passenger, SETH JEFFS, gave the deputy inconsistent answers to
questions regarding their travel plans and where they were earlier that
evening.
After obtaining a state search warrant later that day, deputies
discovered approximately $142,000.00 of US currency, documents, and
sealed envelopes in the vehicle. Many of the envelopes were addressed
to “The Prophet,” or “Warren Jeffs.” Authorities also discovered
several envelopes containing pre-paid credit cards and pre-paid cellular
phone cards. Additionally, they found seven cellular phones inside the
vehicle.
Further investigation revealed that Warren Steed Jeffs was
indicted in Mohave County, Arizona on June 9, 2005, on charges related
to sexual conduct with a minor. On February 25, 2005, a federal arrest
warrant was issued by the U.S. District Court in Arizona for Warren
Jeffs for Unlawful Flight to Avoid Prosecution. Warren Jeffs remains a
fugitive.
Warren Jeffs is the leader and “prophet” of a polygamous sect
known as the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints
(“FLDS”). This group separated from mainstream Mormonism in 1890 when
the Mormon Church denounced polygamy.
“The prosecution of SETH JEFFS has assisted the government in
its efforts to locate Warren Jeffs, a federal fugitive from justice,”
said United States Attorney Bill Leone. “This case demonstrates the
Justice Department’s resolve to locate Warren Jeffs. I want to thank
the Pueblo County Sheriff’s Office and the FBI for their excellent work
on this case.”
This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of
Investigation, with assistance from the Pueblo County Sheriff’s Office.
The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney
Philip Brimmer.
