Nephi Jeffs is an American

Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints The Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (abbreviated to FLDS Church or FLDS) is a Mormon fundamentalist group whose members practice polygamy. It is variously defined as a cult, a sect or a new religious movement. The ...

leader. He is the bishop of the Short Creek Stake, and is his brother

Warren Jeffs Warren Steed Jeffs (born December 3, 1955) is an American cult leader who is serving a life sentence in Texas for child sexual assault following two convictions in 2011. He is the president of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter ...

's personal secretary.

Family

Nephi Steed Jeffs was born to the polygamous FLDS prophet Rulon Jeffs and his fourth wife Marilyn Steed. He is the full brother of Warren, Lyle, and Seth Jeffs among others. Members of the Jeffs family are considered polygamist elite and FLDS members consider their members to be of "royal blood." Being the son of Rulon Jeffs and the brother of

secured Nephi's place in the FLDS hierarchy. As of May 2008, Nephi had acquired 14 wives. Of members of his

ward Ward may refer to: Division or unit * Hospital ward, a hospital division, floor, or room set aside for a particular class or group of patients, for example the psychiatric ward * Prison ward, a division of a penal institution such as a pris ...

listed on records obtained by a federal investigation, Nephi had the second highest number of wives. Church elder Wendell Nielsen had the most wives listed at 21, while the third highest number of wives in the ward was Isaac Jeffs, another Jeffs brother, with 10. One of Nephi's wives is Elizabeth Jessop, who in 2008 was 16 while Nephi was 38.

In the FLDS

Rulon Jeffs's secretary had always been Rebecca Musser's "sister-wife Mother" Noreen. In Musser's memoir ''The Witness Wore Red'', she describes how Noreen was abruptly replaced with Nephi, who reported to Warren instead of Rulon. After Rulon died and Warren solidified power, Nephi continued being his secretary and personal confidant, also acting as a general personal assistant. During the April 2008 raid of

YFZ Ranch The Yearning for Zion Ranch, or the YFZ Ranch, was a Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (FLDS) cult community of as many as 700 people, located near Eldorado in Schleicher County, Texas, United States. In April 2014, th ...

in Eldorado,

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

, Nephi was listed in a federal search warrant. The state's motion to seize property included some of Nephi's personal photographs. As of 8 August 2016, Nephi Jeffs was named as the presiding Bishop of the Short Creek Stake, following his Brother Lyle Jeffs fleeing from the US judicial system.

Warren Jeffs's incarceration

After Warren was apprehended and incarcerated in 2006, Nephi frequently visited Warren in jail. Of the ten trips that he made to see Warren, he was accompanied on eight of them by Lindsay Barlow, another FLDS member who acted as Nephi's security. Barlow also accompanied Nephi to the courtroom hearings as security. While Warren was being held at the Purgatory Jail in

Hurricane A tropical cyclone is a rapidly rotating storm system with a low-pressure area, a closed low-level atmospheric circulation, strong winds, and a spiral arrangement of thunderstorms that produce heavy rain and squalls. Depending on its ...

Utah Utah is a landlocked state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is one of the Four Corners states, sharing a border with Arizona, Colorado, and New Mexico. It also borders Wyoming to the northea ...

, he said to Nephi that he was not the true prophet and had taken power even though he "was not called of God." Nephi said he was, and. Warren told him to spread the news to his followers. Nephi did not distribute the 25 January video as Warren said he should and it later became public. Jeffs said that Warren was "being tested by the Lord" and told Warren that his followers "will not forsake you." During Warren's incarceration, Nephi "was responsible for transcribing, decoding and delivering all of Warren's messages."

Legal issues

On 9 April 2015, U.S. District Judge David Sam held Nephi Jeffs in

contempt of court Contempt of court, often referred to simply as "contempt", is the crime of being disobedient to or disrespectful toward a court of law and its officers in the form of behavior that opposes or defies the authority, justice, and dignity of the co ...

. In 2012, the

United States Department of Labor The United States Department of Labor (DOL) is one of the executive departments of the U.S. federal government. It is responsible for the administration of federal laws governing occupational safety and health, wage and hour standards, unemp ...

began an investigation into the role of the FLDS Church and Jeffs in suspected child labor violations. A CNN report said that children were used to harvest nuts at the Southern Utah Pecan Ranch in 2012. Judge Sam ruled that Nephi and Lyle Jeffs disobeyed subpoenas requiring them to answer questions from Labor Department investigators.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jeffs, Nephi Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints members Living people Mormon fundamentalists Place of birth missing (living people) Year of birth missing (living people) Jeffs family