Things to know about polygamous sect food stamp fraud case

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — Warren Jeffs' polygamous sect on the Utah-Arizona border is reeling after 11 members were indicted this week on allegations that leaders carried out widespread food stamp fraud and money laundering.

Followers would scan their food stamp debit cards at church-run stores, leaving the money with the owners, prosecutors say.

The volume of food stamp purchases at two small convenience stores was so large that it rivaled retailers the size of Wal-Mart and Costco, prosecutors say, with the total amount diverted and laundered estimated at $12 million.

The sect leader has been in a Texas prison for years, serving a life sentence for sexually assaulting two young girls he considered brides.

Prosecutors and former members say he leads from behind bars by communicating via mail and occasional phone calls.

Prosecutors have asked judges to keep them in custody, arguing they are likely to flee and try to hide in the group's elaborate network of houses throughout the U.S., Mexico and Canada.

In 2008, authorities carried out a massive raid on the sect's remote Texas ranch, collecting evidence that sent Warren Jeffs and several of his deputies to prison.

Prosecutors aren't unveiling exactly how they discovered the scheme, but a steady exodus of followers who have left or been kicked out of the sect in recent years has given investigators an expanding pool of witnesses to help unlock secrets about its operation.