FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
July 14, 2006
SETH STEED JEFFS SENTENCED FOR HARBORING FUGITIVE BROTHER
DENVER - 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, 2006, 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.
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