Keep Sweet: Pray and Obey’: How Much Time Did Warren Jeffs Get in Prison?

Netflix’s four-part docuseries Keep Sweet: Pray and Obey dives into the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, or FLDS, and the arrest of its leader, Warren Jeffs. Known for marrying teenage girls to older men and taking underage females as his own wives, the Prophet of the church has been convicted on counts of sexual assault of a child. How much time did Jeffs get in prison due to his convictions?

How much time did Warren Jeffs get in prison?

In Keep Sweet: Pray and Obey, an attorney claimed they found evidence locked behind a vault at the Yearning For Zion (YFZ) Ranch that the President of the church, Warren Jeffs, conducted at least 67 weddings for minors and, of his 78 wives, had 24 whom were underage.

The FLDS leader was later convicted on two counts of sexual assault of a child and received a life sentence in prison in 2011. He is eligible for parole in July 2038.

During his time in prison, Jeffs attempted to die by suicide in a Utah jail in 2007. He also held numerous hunger strikes, reportedly for spiritual reasons but resulting in a medically induced coma.

Jeffs is currently behind bars at the Texas Department of Criminal Justice, and many FLDS members still view him as their leader. While incarcerated, he has released a book Jesus Christ Message to All Nations, which calls for his freedom.

Warren Jeffs relocated the FLDS community to the YFZ Ranch in Texas

The son of Rulon Jeffs, the President of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints or FLDS, Warren Jeffs previously served as a counselor to the church leader.

When his father died in 2002, Jeffs took his position as the Prophet and married all but two of Rulon’s widows.

Adhering to their belief that plural marriages gave men the highest level of salvation in the afterlife, he preached that the followers needed to have at least three wives to get into heaven.

As Prophet, Jeffs held the sole right of assigning wives to husbands and disciplined members by reassigning their families to other men. Eventually, he and his followers relocated to Eldorado, Texas, where they built the Yearning for Zion (YFZ) Ranch.

Warren Jeffs made the FBI’s Top 10 Most Wanted list before his arrest

After the massive temple began making local news, authorities dug deeper into the community and realized Jeffs was marrying off underage girls to older men.

He went on the run, covering his expenses with his followers’ offerings, and even made the FBI’s Top 10 Most Wanted Fugitives list before his arrest in August 2006.

Following his conviction as an accomplice to rape, the authorities briefly took legal custody of the 416 children that lived on the property before returning them to their mothers. However, with the help of informants who previously left the church, they continued investigating and discovered implicating records and recordings in the temple at the YFZ Ranch that proved Jeffs performed weddings for underage brides and married numerous young girls himself.

The findings led to his 2011 conviction, which resulted in life imprisonment for the FLDS leader. Keep Sweet: Pray and Obey is streaming on Netflix.

How to get help: If you or someone you know has been sexually abused, text HOME to the Crisis Text Line at 741741 for free and confidential support.