This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2017, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
A judge on Friday dismissed the two felony charges against a member of the polygamous Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints in a federal food stamp fraud case.
The judge did so at the request of prosecutors. The dismissal makes Nephi Allred the latest member of the sect to resolve his case and the first to do so without entering a guilty plea.
The motion filed by the U.S. Attorneys' Office said only that it was seeking to dismiss the indictment "in the interest of justice." An attorney for Allred, Jeremy Delicino, declined to comment.
Allred's attorneys had earlier filed motions challenging the FBI search of his home and business. That matter never made it before a judge for a ruling.
Eleven FLDS members were indicted in U.S. District Court and arrested in February, each on one count of conspiracy to dismiss the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and one count of conspiracy to launder money. Prosecutors alleged FLDS leaders required sect members to consecrate their SNAP benefits or groceries purchased with them to the church.
Two defendants have pleaded guilty to a felony. Six others have pleaded guilty to misdemeanors.
Two defendants, Lyle Jeffs and Preston Barlow, still have cases pending.
Jeffs absconded from home confinement in June and remains at large.
Barlow's attorney and prosecutors both filed motions Thursday asking that Barlow's trial, scheduled for Jan. 30, be delayed.
Lyle Jeffs is brother to imprisoned FLDS President Warren Jeffs, who is serving a prison sentence of life plus 20 years in Texas for convictions related to sexually abusing two underage girls he married as spiritual wives.
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