This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2011, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
A former leader in the polygamous sect headed by Warren Jeffs renounced his plea deal and risked prison Monday because he felt probation requirements such as staying away from playgrounds were too restrictive.
Wendell Loy Nielsen, 71, now faces up to 30 years in prison if he is convicted at trial on three counts of felony bigamy. He had been sentenced to 10 years of probation after pleading no contest in October.
Nielsen is the former president of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. He and 11 other members were indicted after a 2008 police raid at the church's remote compound in West Texas.
Jeffs, the ecclesiastical head of the church, was convicted in August and sentenced to life in prison for sexually assaulting two of his child brides. Prosecutors said Jeffs had two dozen underage wives in all.
Nielsen is charged with three counts of bigamy alleging that he married three adult women in 2005.
State District Judge Barbara Walther gave him more than 20 minutes to think about how a jury could send him to prison, but Nielsen still demanded a trial.
"This court does not negotiate terms and conditions of probation," Walther said.
The San Angelo Standard-Times reported (http://bit.ly/s35qvb) that Nielsen objected to probation conditions that included not having contact with people under the age of 17 and participating in a behavioral therapy program.
Nielsen also wanted to live in Colorado. But his attorney, David Botsford, told the court that officials there rejected his proposal to move there, possibly because the state may have viewed Nielsen's probation conditions as an excessive administrative burden.
Other special conditions of Nielsen's probation included not holding a leadership position within the FLDS and cooperating with law enforcement in reporting illegal activity.
Botsford said Nielsen insisted upon renouncing his plea deal against his advice.
Nielsen's trial is set to begin Jan. 23.