Lyle Jeffs, one-time leader of Utah polygamous sect, sentenced to prison for food stamp fraud,

Lyle Jeffs, one-time leader of Utah polygamous sect, sentenced to prison for food stamp fraud, absconding

Lyle Jeffs, who once was the day-to-day leader of the polygamous Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, was sentenced Wednesday to nearly five years in a federal prison for defrauding a government assistance program and then fleeing.

U.S. District Judge Ted Stewart sentenced Jeffs to 57 months in prison, followed by three years of probation. Jeffs also was ordered to pay $1 million in restitution to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, which oversees the program that Jeffs and his fellow FLDS members were convicted of defrauding.

“I acknowledge my mistakes and my decision-making and how it has affected the law,” Jeffs, 57, told Stewart in Salt Lake City’s federal courthouse. “I humbly accept responsibilities for my actions.”

“As far as my religious beliefs, they are sincere,” he added, specifying he doesn’t watch television or listen to modern music.

Read more: http://www.sltrib.com/news/politics/2017/12/13/lyle-jeffs-to-be-sentenced-today-ending-polygamous-sect-food-stamp-fraud-case/