Guilty plea by leader of polygamous sect near the Arizona-Utah border is at risk of being thrown out
PHOENIX — A guilty plea by the leader of an offshoot polygamous sect near the Arizona-Utah border is at risk of being thrown out because of an unfulfilled condition in his deal that depended on whether others charged in the case would also plead guilty .
Under the terms of Samuel Bateman’s deal, prosecutors can withdraw his guilty plea but are not required to do so after two other men charged in the case rejected plea offers and are now facing trial.
Bateman, a self-proclaimed prophet who took more than 20 wives, including 10 girls under 18, pleaded guilty this month to charges of kidnapping and conspiring to transport underage girls across state lines in what authorities say was a yearslong scheme to sexually orchestrate actions. involving children.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office in Phoenix declined to say Friday whether it will withdraw Bateman’s plea.
“We still have to see it. It’s not on the docket,” Bateman’s attorney Myles Schneider said when asked about the case. He declined to comment further.
Hearings are scheduled Monday and Tuesday before U.S. District Judge Susan Brnovich on the offers rejected by Bateman’s co-defendants.
Bateman’s plea deal recommends a prison sentence of 20 to 50 years, although one of his convictions may carry a maximum sentence of life in prison.
In his plea, Bateman, 48, admitted taking underage brides, having sexual activities with them and arranging group sex, sometimes involving child brides.
Authorities say Bateman created a sprawling network spanning at least four states when he tried to start an offshoot of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, which was historically based in the neighboring communities of Colorado City, Arizona and Hildale. Utah.
He and his followers practice polygamy, a legacy of the early teachings of the mainstream Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, which abandoned the practice in 1890 and now strictly forbids it. Bateman and his followers believe that polygamy brings exaltation in heaven.