Seth Jeffs is sentenced to probation

In an outcome reminiscent of a "Sopranos" episode, fugitive Fundamentalist LDS Church leader Warren Jeffs' younger brother is taking the fall, but keeping his mouth shut about "the family."

Seth Steed Jeffs was sentenced Friday in a Denver federal court to three years probation and ordered to pay a $2,500 fine.

In a brief statement before the court, Jeffs said he was leaving the polygamous border town of Hildale and plans to live in Colorado.

"I knew what I did was wrong as I was doing it, but I didn't realize the severity of what I was doing," he said. "I did all I can to remove myself from this situation. . . . I never want to find myself in that situation again."

Jeffs, 33, pleaded guilty to a single federal charge of harboring a fugitive. He admitted to helping keep his brother on the run from the FBI and local police. Jeffs has refused to reveal his brother's location to the FBI. He pleaded guilty straight-up to the charges and is therefore not required to tell them anything about where Warren Jeffs is.

Still, prosecutors consider it a victory.

"We feel that this was an important and successful prosecution because it has aided the government in its investigation into the church and the location of Warren Jeffs," said Jeff Dorschner, a spokesman for the U.S. Attorney's Office in Colorado.

Federal prosecutors had recommended three months in prison, but U.S. District Judge Robert Blackburn said he would not "visit the sins of your fugitive brother on you."

In October 2005, Seth Jeffs and Nathaniel Allred were stopped in Pueblo, Colo., by police for driving erratically. Inside their Ford Excursion, police seized $142,000 in cash, pre-paid phone cards, credit cards, seven cell phones and even a donation jar with a label that read "Pennies for the Prophet."

Police said letters seized included questions addressed to Warren Jeffs seeking advice on a number of issues and discussed an on-going project the polygamist leader was involved in — editing a compendium of his father's sermons.

According to plea deal documents obtained by the Deseret Morning News, Seth Jeffs told FBI agents he had been travelling to the FLDS Church's temple site in Eldorado, Texas about once a month. He was acting on behalf of FLDS Church Bishop William Jessop delivering letters and money "so that Warren Jeffs can do what he wants to do."