This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2016, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
A federal court trial for 11 members of the polygamous Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints accused of food stamp fraud has been reset for Oct. 3.
The trial had been scheduled to begin Tuesday, but government attorneys had argued before U.S. District Judge Ted Stewart that there was too much evidence still needed for either prosecutors or defendants to be prepared.
The food stamp fraud investigation began almost two years before the indictments were issued in February against Lyle Jeffs — who at the time of his arrest ran the day-to-day operations of the FLDS for his imprisoned brother, FLDS President Warren Jeffs — and 10 others.
The 11 defendants were each indicted with one count of conspiracy to commit fraud through the food stamp program and one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering.
The government alleges FLDS members were instructed to turn their food stamp debit cards into the church. Many of the cards were used at a local dairy and converted to cash, prosecutors allege in court documents.
The evidence includes video from surveillance cameras placed on poles in Hildale, Utah and Colorado City, Ariz., recorded from February 2015 until February of this year, according to court documents.