I grew up in the FLDS (Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints). A polygamist group currently headed by Warren S. Jeffs. In my last year or so in the church, things had changed a lot and I was aware of some welfare fraud being committed, but I had no idea that the leaders would ever take it to the levels they have now. By the time I left, it was just a matter of the people being required to purchase what the leaders directed, and then turn it all in to the Store House to be redistributed among all the people. But, as I learned in February, it has gone far beyond that now.
Within the last two months I have attended four detention hearings. They were for Lyle S. Jeffs and John C. Wayman, two of the FLDS leaders who were among the 11 indicted and arrested on charges of SNAP fraud, WIC fraud, and money laundering in connection with actions they were involved in where the qualified beneficiaries of these programs were not the ones who benefited. (If you are interested in reading my reports on these hearings you can find them here, here, here, and here.)
ALLEGATIONS: The church leaders instructed their members to either turn over their EBT cards to the church (like a debit card for accessing food money), or they were instructed what to purchase and then donate to the church Store House. But now, they allegedly also instructed for several “shell” corporations to be created, where funds would be funneled and distributed for other uses besides purchasing food for the qualified beneficiaries. The members would go to a couple of church-owned businesses, swipe their cards – which would then be drained of funds – but never receive any food in exchange. The monies were then sent through the shell corporations and spent on such items as a new John Deere tractor, a truck and paper.
Having lived in the FLDS society for nearly forty years, and having an intimate understanding of how things are handled from the inside, I had several reasons for attending these hearings. One was that there is never a detailed report given about these sort of things. There are a handful of news reporters who follow the happenings of polygamy within the state, but their reports are usually very basic and non-descript. I wanted to know who was there in the audience, what questions were asked, what answers were given and most of all if justice was served.
The first hearing I attended was for Lyle Jeffs, on March 7, 2016. As I sat through the hearing, and the defense team called on witnesses to testify as to Lyle’s love for the FLDS people, what a devoted and caring father he was, etc., I was disappointed that the prosecution team didn’t cross-examine any of the witnesses, nor did they really make any statements. From where I sat it appeared as though the defense team was being given a full, untethered rein, and without opposition I feared the court would be swayed by the testimony and release him.
As for the witnesses and testimony, it was bittersweet to see people I had not seen for four years, and watch and listen to them testify with their carefully practiced “church speak.” Or, as we used to call it, "structured truth." Meaning that although it wasn't necessarily a lie, it also was not telling the truth.
This was my first real witness to the carefully orchestrated questioning and choice of witnesses in a legal hearing. For example: had all of the FLDS witnesses been asked all of the same questions, some of them would have either been forced to outright lie, or their testimony would have been damaging to Lyle’s case. But the “right” questions were asked of the “right” people to give the appearance that Lyle was an all-around great guy, who cares about people, is innocent and deserved to be free. (All of which I positively know to be a lie.)
One witness, David Barlow, is someone I knew very well. One of my husband’s sisters is his second wife, and we lived in their basement when we first moved to Short Creek. Part of the questioning that was done was to ascertain if the witnesses had seen or knew of any “secret rooms” or “stashes of weapons.” Both of these questions David answered “not that I know of” to. Now, you need to understand that David Barlow worked for the Store House for many years and was in charge of much of the construction and remodeling that went on in town. I have since talked with one of his sons who left the FLDS and learned the truth about Lyle’s own house, which David Barlow was absolutely aware of.
One of the houses that Lyle’s family lived in there in Short Creek, had been built by a man named Louis Barlow. One of Louis’ sons recently took possession of the house, through petitioning the UEP (United Effort Plan) board. When he went inside, he noticed something odd about the room that Lyle had used for his office/bedroom. Having grown up in the house he knew something was changed. There had been a small room or bathroom off this bedroom, but now there was just a wall of bookshelves. He went around to the other side of the small room and broke through the sheetrock. What he found was several boxes of records and letters, as well as a safe that had somehow been forgotten and left behind by Lyle. David’s son told me that to get into the room you had to have metal in the toe of your shoe, line it up in just the right spot on the bookshelf, and plug in a usb drive with the right file on it, then a section of the bookshelf would open, giving access to the “secret” room. This was not presented in court, but personally told to me. I enter it here as an example of the kind of people and organization we’re talking about, as well as to help you understand the technology they use and how far they are willing to go to “protect” their leaders.
I was left to wonder if the lawyers and court are fully aware of what they’re dealing with, and after being told this story, I think I know that they really don’t. This “church” is an organized crime group who have been instructed how to not tell the truth without actually lying. As an example I will relate the testimony of Nathan Musser, in defense of John Wayman at his hearing.
Nathan Musser (I knew him as Nathan Wayman) was called to the stand to testify as an ex-employee of John Wayman’s business, NewEra. He states that he had been an employee of NewEra from 2005 to early 2011. That he was now residing in Wyoming, working for a different machine shop. He was asked if he knew of John disappearing for long periods of time from his business, to which he answered “not that he was aware of.” He was asked if John was ever hard to get hold of. “No.” He was asked if he was aware that John had left his business and family behind while he was acting as Bishop of the YFZ Ranch stake in Texas. To which he answered, “that would have been after I had left the business.” Although that is a true statement, it is not a complete truth, nor does it actually answer the question. The truth is that at the time Nathan left NewEra in early 2011, it was because he was sent on a mission to the South Dakota stake – the place where only the “best of the best” are allowed to go. What he also didn’t share was that he DID know about John Wayman acting as bishop, leaving his business and family behind because he, Nathan, was called to come back to Short Creek and stand at the head of John Wayman’s family to take care of them while John was absent. Why? Because Nathan Wayman has been John’s son for the last dozen or so years. His natural father, Paul Musser, was kicked out of the church and had his family taken from him around 2002. His mother was then re-married to a man named Ron Rohbock. When Ron was kicked out and sent away to repent, having his family taken from him as well, around 2003, Nathan’s mother was then re-married to John Wayman.
Would the court have taken Nathan’s testimony with a different perspective had they known that he was not just a randomly chosen ex-employee, but the loyal son of the man he was testifying for? Would the court have seen things differently if they understood that Nathan has also been sent away to repent and is striving desperately to prove his loyalty to the church leadership in hopes of being restored and invited back?
This case, and truly everything surrounding this FLDS cult is unique. It isn’t what it may appear at the first glance. I am in the process of contacting the prosecution team to offer insight into who is who and how things are done. I hope to be able to give them a better understanding of what they’re dealing with and how to best word questions and require answers to force either an outright lie or the actual truth.
There has been, and continues to be, much harm done to innocent people. I witnessed it, I experienced it, and the world needs to become aware of it so that hopefully, someday soon, we can stop it and free those who are suffering.
Within the last two months I have attended four detention hearings. They were for Lyle S. Jeffs and John C. Wayman, two of the FLDS leaders who were among the 11 indicted and arrested on charges of SNAP fraud, WIC fraud, and money laundering in connection with actions they were involved in where the qualified beneficiaries of these programs were not the ones who benefited. (If you are interested in reading my reports on these hearings you can find them here, here, here, and here.)
ALLEGATIONS: The church leaders instructed their members to either turn over their EBT cards to the church (like a debit card for accessing food money), or they were instructed what to purchase and then donate to the church Store House. But now, they allegedly also instructed for several “shell” corporations to be created, where funds would be funneled and distributed for other uses besides purchasing food for the qualified beneficiaries. The members would go to a couple of church-owned businesses, swipe their cards – which would then be drained of funds – but never receive any food in exchange. The monies were then sent through the shell corporations and spent on such items as a new John Deere tractor, a truck and paper.
Having lived in the FLDS society for nearly forty years, and having an intimate understanding of how things are handled from the inside, I had several reasons for attending these hearings. One was that there is never a detailed report given about these sort of things. There are a handful of news reporters who follow the happenings of polygamy within the state, but their reports are usually very basic and non-descript. I wanted to know who was there in the audience, what questions were asked, what answers were given and most of all if justice was served.
The first hearing I attended was for Lyle Jeffs, on March 7, 2016. As I sat through the hearing, and the defense team called on witnesses to testify as to Lyle’s love for the FLDS people, what a devoted and caring father he was, etc., I was disappointed that the prosecution team didn’t cross-examine any of the witnesses, nor did they really make any statements. From where I sat it appeared as though the defense team was being given a full, untethered rein, and without opposition I feared the court would be swayed by the testimony and release him.
As for the witnesses and testimony, it was bittersweet to see people I had not seen for four years, and watch and listen to them testify with their carefully practiced “church speak.” Or, as we used to call it, "structured truth." Meaning that although it wasn't necessarily a lie, it also was not telling the truth.
This was my first real witness to the carefully orchestrated questioning and choice of witnesses in a legal hearing. For example: had all of the FLDS witnesses been asked all of the same questions, some of them would have either been forced to outright lie, or their testimony would have been damaging to Lyle’s case. But the “right” questions were asked of the “right” people to give the appearance that Lyle was an all-around great guy, who cares about people, is innocent and deserved to be free. (All of which I positively know to be a lie.)
One witness, David Barlow, is someone I knew very well. One of my husband’s sisters is his second wife, and we lived in their basement when we first moved to Short Creek. Part of the questioning that was done was to ascertain if the witnesses had seen or knew of any “secret rooms” or “stashes of weapons.” Both of these questions David answered “not that I know of” to. Now, you need to understand that David Barlow worked for the Store House for many years and was in charge of much of the construction and remodeling that went on in town. I have since talked with one of his sons who left the FLDS and learned the truth about Lyle’s own house, which David Barlow was absolutely aware of.
One of the houses that Lyle’s family lived in there in Short Creek, had been built by a man named Louis Barlow. One of Louis’ sons recently took possession of the house, through petitioning the UEP (United Effort Plan) board. When he went inside, he noticed something odd about the room that Lyle had used for his office/bedroom. Having grown up in the house he knew something was changed. There had been a small room or bathroom off this bedroom, but now there was just a wall of bookshelves. He went around to the other side of the small room and broke through the sheetrock. What he found was several boxes of records and letters, as well as a safe that had somehow been forgotten and left behind by Lyle. David’s son told me that to get into the room you had to have metal in the toe of your shoe, line it up in just the right spot on the bookshelf, and plug in a usb drive with the right file on it, then a section of the bookshelf would open, giving access to the “secret” room. This was not presented in court, but personally told to me. I enter it here as an example of the kind of people and organization we’re talking about, as well as to help you understand the technology they use and how far they are willing to go to “protect” their leaders.
I was left to wonder if the lawyers and court are fully aware of what they’re dealing with, and after being told this story, I think I know that they really don’t. This “church” is an organized crime group who have been instructed how to not tell the truth without actually lying. As an example I will relate the testimony of Nathan Musser, in defense of John Wayman at his hearing.
Nathan Musser (I knew him as Nathan Wayman) was called to the stand to testify as an ex-employee of John Wayman’s business, NewEra. He states that he had been an employee of NewEra from 2005 to early 2011. That he was now residing in Wyoming, working for a different machine shop. He was asked if he knew of John disappearing for long periods of time from his business, to which he answered “not that he was aware of.” He was asked if John was ever hard to get hold of. “No.” He was asked if he was aware that John had left his business and family behind while he was acting as Bishop of the YFZ Ranch stake in Texas. To which he answered, “that would have been after I had left the business.” Although that is a true statement, it is not a complete truth, nor does it actually answer the question. The truth is that at the time Nathan left NewEra in early 2011, it was because he was sent on a mission to the South Dakota stake – the place where only the “best of the best” are allowed to go. What he also didn’t share was that he DID know about John Wayman acting as bishop, leaving his business and family behind because he, Nathan, was called to come back to Short Creek and stand at the head of John Wayman’s family to take care of them while John was absent. Why? Because Nathan Wayman has been John’s son for the last dozen or so years. His natural father, Paul Musser, was kicked out of the church and had his family taken from him around 2002. His mother was then re-married to a man named Ron Rohbock. When Ron was kicked out and sent away to repent, having his family taken from him as well, around 2003, Nathan’s mother was then re-married to John Wayman.
Would the court have taken Nathan’s testimony with a different perspective had they known that he was not just a randomly chosen ex-employee, but the loyal son of the man he was testifying for? Would the court have seen things differently if they understood that Nathan has also been sent away to repent and is striving desperately to prove his loyalty to the church leadership in hopes of being restored and invited back?
This case, and truly everything surrounding this FLDS cult is unique. It isn’t what it may appear at the first glance. I am in the process of contacting the prosecution team to offer insight into who is who and how things are done. I hope to be able to give them a better understanding of what they’re dealing with and how to best word questions and require answers to force either an outright lie or the actual truth.
There has been, and continues to be, much harm done to innocent people. I witnessed it, I experienced it, and the world needs to become aware of it so that hopefully, someday soon, we can stop it and free those who are suffering.
"This indictment is not about religion. This indictment is about fraud."
— John Huber, U.S. attorney for Utah
— John Huber, U.S. attorney for Utah
If you are interested in learning more about this issue, I have included links below to various articles that have been published recently.
Also, if you'd like, you can follow me on Facebook and I'm always happy to answer questions.
The Spectrum has a great collection of articles about the FLDS over the last few years. If you want to learn more it's a good place to start.