This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2016, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
A defendant in the federal FLDS food-stamp-fraud case was released from jail Wednesday after an update to the terms of his release.
The original conditions for Preston Yates Barlow's release were set Feb. 26 and modified April 14 to allow Barlow to communicate with co-defendants about matters not relating to the case, court documents show.
But on Wednesday, U.S. Magistrate Judge Robert T. Braithwaite revoked the April order modifying Barlow's conditions and forbade any communication with co-defendants. Wednesday's amendment also prohibits Barlow from contacting imprisoned sect leader Warren Jeffs.
Barlow was booked into the Washington County jail on Tuesday after he was arrested in the Hildale, Utah, area.
A petition made public Tuesday by the U.S. Probation Office said GPS ankle monitors showed Barlow was at the same location at the same time as co-defendants Seth Jeffs and John Wayman on Friday, which violated the release agreement that forbids them from associating with other defendants in the fraud case. Seth Jeffs and Wayman were arrested Monday. Barlow was arrested Tuesday.
Prosecutors had opposed the release of all three men, telling judges that they were flight risks.
Lyle Jeffs, also charged in the fraud case, escaped his ankle monitor last month by lubricating it and slipping it off, the FBI said. Lyle Jeffs leads the polygamous Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints in the stead of his brother, Warren Jeffs.
In all, 11 people were indicted in February on charges alleging they used government-issued food-stamp cards and diverted groceries or the cash value of the cards to FLDS leaders. Their trial is scheduled to begin Oct. 3.
The defendants have pleaded not guilty to fraud and money-laundering charges alleging they diverted at least $12 million worth of food-stamp benefits from FLDS members in Hildale, Utah, and Colorado City, Ariz., collectively known as Short Creek.
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