Quick Facts
Biography
Wendell Loy Nielsen (born c. 1941) was, according to documents filed with the Utah Department of Commerce, the President of the Corporation of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (FLDS Church), based in southern Utah.The FLDS Church, first incorporated in 1991, does not require the church president to be its Prophet.However, traditionally the President of the FLDS Church was also the religious head, or Prophet.Warren Jeffs officially resigned as president of the church on December 4, 2007, but his status as Prophet is unknown.
Nielsen has also served as first counselor to both Warren and Rulon Jeffs.
In January 2011, Warren Jeffs retook control of the FLDS Church after removing Nielsen as church president.
As of 2012, Neilsen is no longer a leader in the FLDS Church.
Bigamy charges
In 2008, Texas authorities indicted Neilson with three counts of bigamy for purporting to marry persons other than his spouse while being legally married.According to records seized by Texas law enforcement during a raid on the YFZ ranch, Nielsen may have as many as 21 wives.
Neilsen was charged with 3 counts of bigamy. Two wives were in their sixties and one was in her forties. He received the maximum sentence of ten years.This was in contradiction to the statements of the Texas Attorney General's Office that this case was about prosecuting underage marriages.