Denver, USA - A federal grand jury indicted the brother of Warren Jeffs, a fugitive polygamist sect leader, on a charge of concealing him, prosecutors said Wednesday.
The one-count indictment against Seth Steed Jeffs, 32, of Hildale, Utah, formalizes a charge prosecutors filed Oct. 31, said Jeff Dorschner, spokesman for the U.S. Attorney's Office in Denver.
Seth was arrested after a traffic stop Oct. 28 in Pueblo County. Authorities said he had nearly $142,000 in cash, about $7,000 worth of prepaid debit and phone cards and Warren's personal papers in his SUV.
Prosecutors accused Seth of providing the means for Warren, 49, to remain on the run. Seth is free on $25,000 bond and scheduled to appear today before a federal magistrate judge in Denver, Dorschner said. If convicted, he faces up to five years in prison and a $250,000 fine.
According to an arrest affidavit, Seth told officers he didn't know where his brother was but wouldn't tell them if he did.
Warren was indicted in June in Arizona on charges of arranging a marriage between a 16-year-old girl and a married man. The FBI added a charge of unlawful flight.
A passenger in Seth's SUV at the time of the traffic stop, identified as Nathaniel Steed Allred, told Pueblo County sheriff's deputies that Seth had hired him for sexual companionship, Dorschner said. Seth and Allred were arrested for investigation on state charges of prostitution and solicitation for prostitution.
Warren Jeffs leads the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.