KINGMAN, Ariz. — Polygamist sect leader Warren Jeffs was handed over to Arizona authorities Tuesday to face sex charges stemming from the arranged marriages of two teenage girls to older men. He already has been convicted in Utah.
Jeffs, 52, the leader of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, is scheduled to appear in a court in Kingman today, charged as an accomplice in four counts of incest and four counts of sexual contact with a minor in an indictment.
He’ll plead not guilty to the Arizona charges, said defense attorney Mike Piccarreta.
Jeffs was convicted of rape as an accomplice and sentenced in Utah to serve two consecutive terms of five years to life in prison there in the marriage of a 14-year-old to her 19-year-old cousin.
The Arizona charges stem from that marriage and that of a man in his early 50s to his 17-year-old relative.
Prosecutors in Arizona say the Utah conviction doesn’t preclude them from bringing charges here.
