Jeffs handed over to to Arizona to face charges

Polygamist sect leader Warren Jeffs has been handed over to Arizona authorities to face charges related to performing more child-bride marriages.

Jeffs was being transported to the Mohave County Jail in Kingman, Ariz. He is scheduled to appear in court Wednesday morning to face numerous criminal charges.

"He will be in the custody of Mohave County pending trial on that case," said Angie Welling, spokeswoman for the Utah Department of Corrections.

Security surrounding the high-profile inmate was heavy and precautions were taken but the transfer was uneventful, Welling said. Jeffs had previously waived his extradition to Arizona.

"It was just a matter of time when it was going to come down to Utah authorities releasing him to us," Mohave County Sheriff's spokeswoman Trish Carter said Tuesday. "We have been taking a pro-active approach to his arrival and the safety and security of everyone, including him."

Jeffs has posed a security risk. While incarcerated in Hurricane's Purgatory Jail facing trial, he attempted suicide, fasted extensively, and was kept in isolation for his protection and the safety of others in the jail.

"Whenever you have an inmate like that, you know you have to take everything seriously," Washington County Sheriff Kirk Smith told the Deseret Morning News.

At the Utah State Prison, Jeffs was housed in maximum security and most recently in the infirmary after going on a fast. His criminal defense attorney said in a lawsuit deposition last week that Jeffs also had bloody sores on his knees, from spending so much time praying.

"He was in the infirmary for the past week, but that did not prevent the transfer of custody," Welling said.

Jeffs, 52, was serving two 5-to-life sentences in prison following his conviction last year on two counts of rape as an accomplice, a first-degree felony. He performed a marriage between a 14-year-old girl and her 19-year-old cousin.

In Arizona, Jeffs is facing criminal charges including sexual misconduct with a minor, conspiracy to commit sexual misconduct with a minor and incest as an accomplice. Jeffs' criminal defense attorney in Arizona has sought to get the case there transferred to another jurisdiction, fearful that the pre-trial publicity would harm Jeffs' right to a fair trial.

In addition to the Arizona charges, Utah's Attorney General has been conducting investigations into Jeffs and the Fundamentalist LDS Church. A federal grand jury in Salt Lake City has also indicted him on charges of unlawful flight to avoid prosection, stemming from Jeffs' time on the FBI's Ten Most Wanted list.

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E-mail: bwinslow@desnews.com