US polygamist leader Warren Jeffs, self-proclaimed prophet of a breakaway Mormon sect, was sentenced yesterday to 10 years to life in prison for forcing a 14-year-old to marry her first cousin.
The leader of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, or FLDS, received five years to life for each of two felony convictions on charges he was an accomplice to rape. The sentences will be served consecutively and a state board of pardons will ultimately determine how much time he spends in prison.
Jeffs spent 15 months on the run and was on the FBI's Most Wanted list before his arrest in August 2006. He was convicted in September.
Looking gaunt, Jeffs showed no emotion when the sentence was read and he declined to address the Utah court which was packed with his supporters and opponents.
The victim, who is now 21 and has remarried, was in the front row and addressed the judge before sentencing. "Jeffs and his influence over me, as a 14-year-old girl, affected me and my family in so many ways," said Elissa Wall, her voice trembling with emotion.
She said she trusted the court would give him "the sentence that he deserves and that some good would come from this." Jeffs forced her to marry her 19-year-old cousin despite her objections.
Revered as infallible by his followers and reviled as power-crazed and delusional by others, Jeffs (51), led some 7,500 FLDS members in the borderlands of Utah and Arizona.