San Angelo, USA - Polygamist leader Warren Jeffs was sentenced to life in prison Tuesday by the San Angelo, Texas, jury that last week found him guilty of sexually assaulting two underage followers he took as brides.
The head of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (FLDS) won't be eligible for parole for 45 years. Jeffs, 55, must serve at least 35 years of a life sentence on one of the child-sex charges, and at least 10 years on the other.
Prosecutors rejected Jeffs' contention that he was being persecuted for his religious beliefs. During the trial, they used DNA evidence to show Jeffs fathered a child with a 15-year-old and played an audio recording of what they said was him sexually assaulting a 12-year-old.
The FLDS church, which is not affiliated with the mainstream Mormon religion, holds that exaltation in heaven stems from plural marriage. The mainstream Church of Jesus Christ of Latterday Saints disavowed polygamy in 1890.
Experts offered conflicting views on what will become of Jeffs' fundamentalist sect, which has an estimated congregation of 10,000 with enclaves in Arizona, Utah and Texas.
Isaac Wyler, a former member of the sect who still lives in Colorado City, Ariz., predicted that Jeffs, who has overseen the church from jail cells for the past two years, will maintain his authority despite the conviction and sentence.
"He will definitely remain as prophet behind bars," Wyler said. "And they (second-tier leaders) will be telling everybody that God's going to tear the prison down and let him loose. "
Ken Driggs, a Georgia attorney who says he has been friendly with FLDS members in Arizona since 1988, disagreed. He said church underlings are aware of terrible evidence against Jeffs during the trial, and a new leadership is likely to arise.
"It was bad, bad stuff. Just vile," Driggs said. "I just think Warren is tainted in a way now that he will never come back with the influence he had."
Michael Piccarreta, a Tucson attorney who represented Jeffs against criminal charges in Arizona, said the conviction and sentence were a miscarriage of justice because the defendant represented himself at trial.
Arizona charges of rape as an accessory — for presiding over child marriages — were dropped for multiple reasons, including the fact that Texas had far more severe charges. Jeffs was convicted of the same crime in Utah, but the conviction was overturned on appeal because of flawed jury instructions.
"It's an old-fashion, Texas-style lynching," said Piccarreta, noting that appeals are almost certain. "If you deny an individual a lawyer of his choice, the result is predictable." Jeffs fired seven attorneys, and then asked the court for a delay to hire a new one. When the judge refused that request, he acted as his own attorney.