Fugitive polygamous leader wants charges dropped

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — Polygamous leader Lyle Jeffs is a fugitive after slipping out of a GPS ankle monitor last month, but that isn't stopping his attorneys from asking a judge to drop food stamp fraud charges against him.

Jeffs' religious freedom rights allow him and others in the sect to share food stamp benefits as part of their communal living, his attorneys contend in a new court filing Tuesday.

Like Amish who don't send their children to public high school, members of the polygamous group on the Utah-Arizona border believe not donating their food stamp benefits would go against their religious beliefs and "endanger their own salvation," attorneys wrote.