Judge weighing release of polygamous leader in fraud case

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — High-ranking polygamous leader Lyle Jeffs will have to wait to find out if he can leave jail pending trial on accusations he helped orchestrate a multimillion-dollar food stamp fraud scheme.

The food-stamp crackdown marked the government's latest move against the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, coinciding with legal battles in two states over child labor and discrimination against nonbelievers.

At the hearing, federal public defender Kathryn Nester said Jeffs is willing to accept conditions of supervised release, including living in a house in Provo that is some 275 miles north of the polygamous community to squash any worries that he would influence witness testimony.

Federal prosecutor Robert Lund said Jeffs can't be trusted to abide by the conditions of release because he has proven fiercely loyal to his brother, imprisoned sect leader Warren Jeffs, who is considered a prophet and is serving a life sentence in Texas for sexually assaulting girls he considered brides.

Last month, a jury in Phoenix decided the towns violated the constitutional rights of nonbelievers by denying them basic services such as police protection, building permits and water hookups.