SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — The Latest on the capture of fugitive polygamous sect leader Lyle Jeffs (all times local):
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9:35 a.m.
South Dakota authorities say polygamous sect leader Lyle Jeffs was captured at a recreation area marina southwest of Sioux Falls.
Yankton County Chief Deputy Sheriff Michael Rothschadl says that Jeffs surrendered without incident Wednesday evening after a traffic stop. He says Jeffs was alone in the vehicle.
Rothschadl says law enforcement had been looking for a silver Ford pickup truck with Utah plates. An off-duty Yankton Police Department detective spotted the vehicle and believed it was Jeffs.
Rothschadl says police made the traffic stop as Jeffs drove through the marina after using a bathroom. Rothschadl says he doesn’t know why Jeffs was in southeast South Dakota.
Authorities had been looking for Jeffs since June 18, 2016, when he escaped from home confinement in Salt Lake City pending trial on charges in an alleged multimillion-dollar food stamp fraud scheme.
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8:39 a.m.
Polygamous sect leader Lyle Jeffs has been captured after being on the run for nearly a year.
FBI spokeswoman Sandra Barker said Thursday morning that Jeffs was arrested in South Dakota at about 8:30 p.m. Wednesday. No other details were provided.
Authorities had been looking for Jeffs since June 18, 2016, when he escaped from home confinement in Salt Lake City pending trial on charges in an alleged multimillion-dollar food stamp fraud scheme.
Jeffs is the brother of the sect’s highest leader, the imprisoned Warren Jeffs.
Prosecutors said Lyle Jeffs was a flight risk, but U.S. District Judge Ted Stewart let him out in early June 2016, citing the fact that 10 other defendants in the food stamp fraud case already out had complied with the court’s conditions.
