Warren Jeffs appears in Arizona court

KINGMAN, Ariz., Feb. 28 (UPI) -- Warren Jeffs, leader of a fundamentalist Mormon sect, pleaded not guilty in Arizona to charges that he arranged marriages between teenagers and adult men.

Jeffs, who was convicted last year in Utah of forcing a teenager to marry her cousin, appeared in handcuffs Wednesday in a courtroom packed with his followers, the Kingman Daily Miner reported.

Jeffs faces five counts of sexual conduct with a minor, four counts of incest and one count of conspiracy to commit sexual conduct with a minor. Each Arizona charge carries a sentence of up to three years and nine months in prison.

In Utah, he has been sentenced to five years to life for two counts of conspiracy to commit rape.

Many members of the Fundamentalist Latter Day Saints live in the towns of Colorado City, Ariz., and Hillsborough, Utah. They believe that the Mormons were wrong when they outlawed polygamy in the late 19th century.