Acting on a tip from a pawn shop in South Dakota, the FBI has captured fugitive Lyle Jeffs. It appears that the disgraced FLDS leader did not in fact experience "the miracle of rapture" as his attorney had speculated. He was found living in his car, not a heavenly chariot.
The owner of a small-town South Dakota pawn shop says Lyle Jeffs revealed who he was on Tuesday when he pawned two pairs of Leatherman pliers for $37 and provided identification.
River City Treasures and Pawn owner Kevin Haug says a store employee in the small town of Yankton notified him that Jeffs was wanted by the FBI after Jeffs had left the store.
Haug says Jeffs provided his last name as his first name, going by Jeffs Lyle Steed.
. . .
He says Jeffs during his first visit was fidgeting, seemed nervous and "acting like a freak."
What he was doing in South Dakota, aside from selling off tools to survive, remains unclear. There is an FLDS compound in South Dakota, but he was found a substantial distance from that site.
Yankton is roughly 400 miles east of Pringle, South Dakota, where the FLDS owns a compound, [special agent Eric] Barnhart said. It's not clear if FLDS members provided Jeffs support while he was on the run, but Barnhart said the fugitive bishop had limited communication and resources over the last year.
Jeffs, who slipped his bonds while under house arrest, still faces charges for participating in a scheme to defraud the food stamp program. He'd have done well to sit tight, as his co-defendants received very generous plea deals. Jeffs, on the other hand, will now undoubtedly face additional charges for having fled custody. He may also be in Dutch with his brother, incarcerated "prophet" Warren Jeffs, who claimed to have removed Lyle from his role as bishop.
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