SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — Warren Jeffs' polygamous sect on the Utah-Arizona border is reeling after 11 members were indicted this week on allegations that leaders carried out widespread food stamp fraud and money laundering.
A closer look at what's happening:
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WHAT IS THE SECT ACCUSED OF DOING?
Federal prosecutors say church leaders orchestrated a yearslong scheme instructing members how to use food-stamp benefits illegally for the benefit of the faith and avoid getting caught.
Followers would scan their food stamp debit cards at church-run stores, leaving the money with the owners, prosecutors say. Group leaders then funneled money to front companies. Some of those funds were used to pay thousands for a tractor and a truck, the indictment shows.
The volume of food stamp purchases at two small convenience stores was so large that it rivaled retailers the size of Wal-Mart and Costco, prosecutors say, with the total amount diverted and laundered estimated at $12 million.
Another common practice was buying groceries with food stamps and giving the supplies to the church's communal storehouse for leaders to divvy up.
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WHERE DID THIS HAPPEN?
In the sister cities of Hildale, Utah, and Colorado City, Arizona — the base for the group known as the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. The sect is a radical offshoot of mainstream Mormonism, which disavowed polygamy more than 100 years ago.
Defense attorneys have not yet commented on the allegations. The sect does not have a spokesman or a phone listing where leaders can be contacted.
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WHO WAS CHARGED?
Several key players in the sect:
— Lyle Jeffs, who runs day-to-day operations in the community by carrying out orders from his imprisoned brother Warren Jeffs.
— Seth Jeffs, another brother who runs the group's South Dakota compound.
— John Wayman, a confidant of Warren Jeffs' who handles legal and tax issues.
— Nephi Steed Allred, an accountant who set up corporations and helped move around the group's money, prosecutors say.
They face up to five years in prison on the fraud charges and up to 20 years in money laundering.
Warren Jeffs was not charged in the scheme. The sect leader has been in a Texas prison for years, serving a life sentence for sexually assaulting two young girls he considered brides.
Prosecutors and former members say he leads from behind bars by communicating via mail and occasional phone calls.
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WHAT HAPPENS NEXT?
Four suspects are still at large. Three lower-level defendants are out on supervised release. The key players are behind bars pending detention hearings in federal courts in Utah and South Dakota.
Prosecutors have asked judges to keep them in custody, arguing they are likely to flee and try to hide in the group's elaborate network of houses throughout the U.S., Mexico and Canada. They say the polygamists likely would use aliases, disguises, false identification and prepaid cellphones to avoid being caught — just as Warren Jeffs did in the mid-2000s.
Prosecutors revealed in court documents that Lyle Jeffs has a ranch in South America, according to one of his estranged wives.
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HAS THE SECT BEEN BUSTED BEFORE?
Yes, but this crackdown marks one of the biggest blows to the group in years.
It comes amid a civil rights trial in Phoenix against the Utah-Arizona community, which prosecutors say discriminated against nonbelievers by denying them housing, water services and police protection.
Federal labor lawyers also are going after church leaders on allegations that they ordered parents to put their kids to work for long hours for little pay on a Utah pecan farm.
The community denies the allegations.
In 2008, authorities carried out a massive raid on the sect's remote Texas ranch, collecting evidence that sent Warren Jeffs and several of his deputies to prison.
In 2005, Utah seized control of a church trust holding more than 700 homes estimated to be worth over $100 million amid allegations of mismanagement.
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HOW HAVE AUTHORITIES UNCOVERED THE GROUP'S ACTIVITIES?
Prosecutors aren't unveiling exactly how they discovered the scheme, but a steady exodus of followers who have left or been kicked out of the sect in recent years has given investigators an expanding pool of witnesses to help unlock secrets about its operation.
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WILL THE TAKEDOWN DESTROY THE SECT?
No, though it was expected to rattle the group.
Mid-ranking leaders who have been closely involved in business and religious dealings will likely fill the vacated roles, even it takes time to find their footing, former members and experts say.
Warren Jeffs will likely spin the arrests by telling his flock that the crackdown is further proof the government is an evil entity out to attack their way of life, ex-followers say.
一、该教受到哪些指控？
联邦检察官称，教会高层长期精心安排教徒利用食品救济券福利为教会非法谋利，并逃避罪责。教徒在教会运营的商店刷食品救济信用卡，将钱交给店主，教会高层则将钱汇拢后输送给皮包公司。起诉书还称，其中有数千美元购买了一辆拖拉机和卡车。两家便利店的食品救济券购买量堪比沃尔玛和好市多的零售额，转移和洗钱总额高达1200万美元。
此外，摩门教基要派的另外一个惯用手法就是使用食品救济券购买杂货，并将购买的杂货存放到教会的仓库，以供高层分配。
二、罪行在哪里发生？
地点是两个姐妹城，即犹他州的希尔达城以及亚利桑那州的科罗拉多城，这里是摩门教基要派的大本营。摩门教基要派是主流摩门派的激进分支，摩门派早在100多年前摈弃了一夫多妻制。
辩护律师对指控未做任何评价，教会没有发言人或提供可以联系的高层领导电话号码。
三、谁受到指控？
受到指控的是几个高层骨干：
莱尔·杰夫斯（Lyle Jeffs），执行在押兄弟沃伦·杰夫斯的命令经营社区日常事务。
赛思·杰夫斯(Seth Jeffs)，沃伦的另一个兄弟，负责经营南达科他州的教会聚居地。
约翰·威曼(John Wayman)，沃伦的亲信，负责处理法律和税务事宜。
奈非·斯蒂德·艾尔弗莱德（Nephi Steed Alfred）, 会计，检察官称其负责设立皮包公司并帮助教会转移钱财。
上述人员可能面临的是，5年有期徒刑的诈骗罪，最高达20年有期徒刑的洗钱罪。沃伦·杰夫斯在此案中未受到指控，他在德克萨斯州监狱已被关押数年，因性侵两名被其视作“新娘”的未成年幼女，被判终身监禁。
检察官和前教徒称沃伦通过邮件和电话，遥控指挥教会。
四、接下来会发生什么？
4名嫌疑人仍是自由身，6名轻微指控罪行被告也已取保候审，主要嫌疑人被关押在犹他州和南达科他州的联邦法庭等待拘留听审。
检察官已向法官提出继续关押嫌犯的请求，称他们有可能逃逸，躲藏在该教遍布美国、墨西哥和加拿大错综复杂的巢穴里。他们还称这些多妻制教徒会使用化名、假身份证、预付费手机，乔装打扮躲避追捕——与沃伦·杰夫斯在2003-2007年间如出一辙。
检察官在呈送法庭的文件上披露，据莱尔·杰夫斯某个分居的妻子称，他在南美有个牧场。
五、该教之前是否遭受过打击？
是的。但此次突袭是该教近年来遭受的最大打击之一。3月7日，该教派控制的两座城镇因歧视非教徒，包括拒绝他们居住、用水以及警察保护等权利而被判败诉。 联邦劳工律师也指控教会高层要求教徒子女在犹他州的山核桃树农场几乎无偿长时间工作。
2008年，当局对该教地处偏远的德克萨斯州牧场进行大突袭，搜集了证据，将沃伦·杰夫斯和他的副手送进监狱。
2005年，犹他州取得了对教会一信托的控制权。该信托掌握了700多个家庭总额超过1亿美元的资产，罪名是管理不当。
六、当局是如何发现该教罪行的？
检察官没有详细披露细节。但是，近年来不断有教徒离开该教，或被赶出该教，使得检察官有足够多的证人来帮助他们解开该教的运营秘密。
七、这次大行动会瓦解该教吗？
不会，但是预期大逮捕会动摇教会根基。
原教徒和专家认为，该教中密切参与商业运作和宗教事宜的中层领导有可能会上位填补空缺，但稳住阵脚尚需时间。
原教徒还认为，沃伦·杰夫斯很可能会将此次行动捏造成进一步证明政府肆意侵扰他们生活方式。
http://bigstory.ap.org/article/cefa587b68b24942ab8252aedfedd978/things-know-about-polygamous-sect-food-stamp-fraud-case |
2016/9/3 13:04
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