POLYGAMOUS SECT LEADER PLEADS GUILTY TO ESCAPE, FRAUD

A high-ranking polygamous sect leader recaptured after a year on the run pleaded guilty Wednesday in a food-stamp fraud and escape case. Lyle Jeffs is facing three to five years in prison and a $1 million fine. Jeffs will be sentenced Dec. 13 by U.S. District Judge Ted Stewart — the same judge who released Jeffs from jail to home confinement in 2016 while he was awaiting trial. Days later, Jeffs slipped off his ankle monitor and escaped. He was on the run for nearly a year, only caught after South Dakota pawnshop workers recognized him. He was apparently living out of his truck. Jeffs was one of 11 members of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints charged with helping funnel millions in food-stamp benefits to front companies.