FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. — A Mohave County judge on Wednesday dismissed all Arizona charges against polygamist leader Warren Jeffs.
Judge Steven Conn granted a prosecutor’s motion to dismiss the four charges of being an accomplice to sexual misconduct with a minor.
Mohave County Attorney Matt Smith said the two alleged victims in the cases no longer want to proceed with prosecution in Arizona.
In his motion filed earlier Wednesday, Smith said Jeffs, the former leader of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, has already served more time in Arizona than he would receive upon conviction, more serious charges are pending against Jeffs in Texas, and Jeffs has had significant medical problems while in jail.
“It would be impractical and unnecessary to spend taxpayer money on this defendant under all the above mentioned circumstances,” Smith wrote.
The court ordered the sheriff’s office to transport Jeffs back to Utah, where his 2007 convictions on two counts of rape as an accomplice are on appeal. He was sentenced to two consecutive terms of five years to life in prison for the charges, which involved Jeffs’ role in the marriage of an underage follower to her cousin.
Texas has started extradition proceedings.
Jeffs’ troubles extended into Texas when he was indicted on charges of sexual assault of a child and bigamy, months after authorities raided the FLDS’ Yearning for Zion ranch at Eldorado in April 2008.
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