This is right out of the HBO series Big Love.
THE fugitive leader of a polygamist sect, and one of the FBI's 10 most wanted, has been arrested by a Nevada highway patrol.Warren Steed Jeffs, 50, who is considered a prophet by his 10,000 followers, faces charges of unlawful flight to avoid prosecution in Utah and Arizona, sexual conduct with a minor, conspiracy to commit sexual conduct with a minor, and rape as an accomplice, the FBI said.
It seized wigs, mobile phones, laptop computers and more than $US54,000 in cash from his car.
Mr Jeffs, called a religious zealot and a dangerous extremist by critics and former members of his church, is said to have fathered more than 50 children by 40 wives.
He was stopped by the Nevada Highway Patrol yesterday over expired licence plates.
The patrolman recognised Mr Jeffs and held him until FBI agents could arrive to identify him.
Mr Jeffs took control of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, also known as the Fundamentalist Latter Day Saints, from his now-dead father.
The sect, long based in an enclave in the twin border towns of Hildale, Utah, and Colorado City, Arizona, split from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints when the Mormon Church banned polygamy more than a century ago, and has no connection with it.
Mr Jeffs, who had been on the run for at least two years, is accused of arranging marriages between older men and underage girls in the FLDS settlement, which is generally closed to outsiders.
Young men and boys are often forced out of the enclave to ensure a supply of young brides for male elders.
Mr Jeff's group is believed to be one of the largest polygamist sects that exist in the US.
A Utah-Arizona Attorneys-General report has estimated 20,000 to 40,000 Americans still engage in the outlawed practice of multiple marriages.
Elaine Tyler, head of Utah-based group HOPE, which helps people leave polygamist homes, hailed the arrest.
"I can't believe they found him," Ms Tyler said.
"He has broken up families. He has married off young girls against their will.
"It is time he started paying for what he did."