Judge orders compound suspects kept in federal custody

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — A federal judge on Wednesday ordered five former residents of a ramshackle New Mexico compound to remain jailed amid accusations that a woman in the group declared herself a prophet while her partner helped train children for potential attacks on schools, law enforcement agencies and other institutions.

The ruling came a day after a federal grand jury indicted the group on firearms and conspiracy charges, which stemmed from accusations that Jany Leveille, who is originally from Haiti, had been living in the country illegally and that the others had conspired to provide her with firearms and ammunition.

The four others charged in the case are Siraj Ibn Wahhaj, 40; his sisters Hujrah Wahhaj, 37, and Subhanah Wahhaj, 35; and his brother-in-law Lucas Morton, 40.

Authorities said Leveille had kept a journal in which she described being able to interpret messages from God, and also documented the death of her partner Siraj Wahhaj’s 3-year-old son, who had been denied medication for seizures.

Authorities said the couple had performed daily, hourslong prayer rituals over him in the days leading to his death and that Leveille believed medication suppressed Muslim beliefs.

“Their actions were deplorable,” prosecutor George Kraehe told the judge.