Polygamy leader Jeffs sentenced to prison

Warren Jeffs looks toward the jury in his trial in St. George, Utah, September 25, 2007. U.S. polygamist sect leader Jeffs, who was considered a prophet by his church of breakaway Mormons, was sentenced to 10 years to life in prison on Tuesday for being an accomplice to rape by forcing a 14-year-old to marry her cousin.

ST. GEORGE, Utah (Reuters) - U.S. polygamist leader Warren Jeffs, the self-proclaimed "prophet" of a sect of breakaway Mormons, was sentenced on Tuesday to 10 years to life in prison for having forced a 14-year-old girl to marry her first cousin.

The leader of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, or FLDS, received five years to life for each of two felony convictions on charges he was an accomplice to rape. The sentences will be served consecutively and a state board of pardons will ultimately determine how much time he spends in prison.

Jeffs spent 15 months on the run and was on the FBI's Most Wanted list before his arrest in August 2006. He was convicted in September.

Looking gaunt, Jeffs showed no emotion when the sentence was read and he declined to address the Utah court.

But his victim, who is now 21, was in court and directly spoke to the judge before sentencing.

"Jeffs and his influence over me, as a 14-year-old girl, affected me and my family in so many ways," said Elissa Wall.

She said she trusted the court would give him "the sentence that he deserves and that some good would come from this." Jeffs forced her to marry her 19-year-old cousin despite her objections.

Revered as infallible by his followers and reviled as power-crazed and delusional by others, Jeffs, 51, led some 7,500 FLDS members in the red-rock borderlands of Utah and neighboring Arizona.

Women members of the church wear long, pioneer-style dresses, have their hair in long braided plaits and are brought up to be submissive to their husbands. Church members are generally suspicious of outsiders.

The trial of the sect leader riveted Utah, the western state with a majority Mormon population, many of whom consider polygamy an outdated embarrassment to their faith.

The practice of taking multiple wives was an early tenet of the Mormon faith, although it was banned in 1890 when Utah sought to become a state. The FLDS -- which has no ties to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, whose members are called Mormons -- is the largest group still practicing polygamy in the state.

Jeffs now faces similar charges in Arizona.

(Editing by Cynthia Osterman)