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Attorneys for polygamous FLDS Church leader Lyle Jeffs — who has absconded from his pre-trial release in a federal food-stamp-fraud case — filed a motion Tuesday claiming charges that he illegally diverted federal benefits violate his religious freedom rights under the First Amendment and should be dismissed.
By donating his legally obtained Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits to a Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints community storehouse, Jeffs was living the tenets of his faith, the motion says.
And under the federal Religious Freedom Restoration Act, the government cannot "substantially burden" a person's exercise of freedom, according to the motion.
"FLDS members believe a failure to donate their SNAP benefits (which is considered property), would be contrary to the FLDS religion and way of life that would endanger their own salvation," the motion says.
The motion, which was filed in U.S. District Court, asks Judge Ted Stewart to hold an evidentiary hearing on the request to throw out the charges.
Jeffs and 10 others have pleaded not guilty to fraud and money-laundering charges alleging they diverted at least $12 million worth of their SNAP benefits. Prosecutors allege FLDS sect leaders instructed followers to donate items they bought with their food-stamp cards to a church warehouse, then decided how to distribute the products among the membership.
In addition, food stamps allegedly were cashed at sect-owned stores without the users getting anything in return. The money was then diverted to front companies and used to pay thousands for a tractor, truck and other items, prosecutors say.
But Jeffs' motion claims church members were merely engaging in the time-honored doctrine of "co-mingling assets." This practice of co-mingling assets, known as the "United Order" or the "Law of Consecration" was practiced by early Mormons in states such as Ohio, Missouri, Illinois, and Utah, Jeffs' lawyers say.
"The United Order provides that each member consecrate all of his property to the Church. Thereafter, he would state his needs and desires for himself and his family, and the Bishop would provide property and resources according to those reasonable needs and wants," the motion states, adding Jeffs himself "donates his livelihood, property, and time to the Community Storehouse and relies on and survives on Community Storehouse donations."
The motion says the U.S. Department of Agriculture, which distributes SNAP benefits, is not losing money because of the donations to the community storehouse.
"These SNAP benefits are going towards the purchase of food," the motion says. "Accordingly, the needy FLDS members are still reaping the benefits. Looking at it a different way, the point of the benefit is to feed families, families are getting fed — it just happens to be through a different means than the Government envisioned."
Meanwhile, Jeffs — who escaped on June 18 from home confinement, likely by lubricating his court-ordered GPS tracking device with olive oil and slipping out of it — is being sought by the FBI.
Agents spoke with neighbors of Jeffs' Salt Lake City home, where he was ordered to stay, except for a few reasons such as work, doctor's appointments and court hearings, according to Sandra Yi Barker, a spokeswoman for the FBI's Salt Lake City division.
Witnesses saw a newer model dark Ford Mustang arrive and later leave the home the night of June 18, though they "could not identify who was in the car," Yi Barker has said. The FBI issued an arrest warrant for Jeffs the next day.
Jeffs was prohibited from talking with witnesses, co-defendants and his brother, imprisoned sect leader Warren Jeffs. The judge also ordered him to surrender his passport.
Yi Barker urged anyone with information on Lyle Jeffs' whereabouts to call the FBI Salt Lake City Field Office at 801-579-1400 or a local FBI office.
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