On April 9, 2015, U.S. District Judge David Sam held Lyle Jeffs in contempt of court.
[8][7] A CNN report claimed that children were used to harvest nuts at the Southern Utah Pecan Ranch in 2012.
[8][7] Judge Sam ruled that Lyle Jeffs and his brother Nephi disobeyed subpoenas requiring them to answer questions from Labor Department investigators.
[7] On April 20, 2015, the U.S. Department of Labor assessed fines totaling $1.96 million against a group of FLDS church members, including Lyle Jeffs, for alleged labor violations during the church's 2012 pecan harvest at an orchard near Hurricane, Utah.
[9] Jeffs allegedly escaped house arrest in June 2016 by slipping out of an FBI ankle bracelet.