In exchange for his cooperation, Rozier got 22 years.

Wednesday, some Opa-locka tenants were jubilant. "Mom, they got him! They finally got him!" the 11-year-old daughter of Brenda Daniels cried.

The indictment noted the harsh life of children in the sect. Yahweh "exercised control by separating families of followers within the enterprise, by regulating the personal and sexual lives of married followers and by having sexual relations with both adult and minor female followers."

One female follower survived a violent attack, according to the indictment. She was Mildred Banks, a onetime postal worker and Yahweh defector. She was shot and slashed with a machete.

But another defector wasn't so lucky. Several Yahwehs allegedly beat Aston Green, hauled him off to West Dade and decapitated him.

Enoch Israel, born John Foster, one of the sect members who allegedly beat Green, has disappeared. Police also suspect that Yahwehs committed two other murders, but they are not mentioned in the indictment.

In the years since 1986, the sect sought to transform its violent image, hiring a publicity-conscious attorney and finding economic clout and political friends.

Just a month ago, on Oct. 7, Miami Mayor Xavier Suarez proclaimed a "Yahweh Ben Yahweh Day."

Barbara Malone, a Legal Services attorney who represented the 120 Opa-locka tenants, said Wednesday, "I've been wondering whether the mayor is going to take back the keys to the city now."

At his first appearance before U.S. Magistrate Ivan Lemelle in New Orleans, Yahweh said softly, "On the advice of counsel, I stand mute."

Yahweh told the magistrate he is represented by Miami lawyers Ellis Rubin and Alcee Hastings, the impeached federal judge.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Richard Scruggs, the chief prosecutor, will fly to New Orleans for a removal hearing Friday.

Yahweh is expected to waive extradition for a trial in Miami. If convicted, Yahweh faces 60 years in prison.

The murders in the federal indictment were listed as "racketeering activities." There is no federal homicide charge.

Dade State Attorney Janet Reno said Wednesday, however, that the federal charges do not preclude Florida murder prosecutions.

Wednesday's arrests, coordinated for weeks in secrecy, came off largely without incident.

Federal agents had conducted a psychological background profile on the sect leader and concluded that there was high potential for violence.

What's more, defectors had given statements about a stash of guns and knives buried somewhere near the Yahwehs' fortress- like white compound, where stoic-looking sentries patrol around a fleet of white buses, trucks and limousines. No weapons were found.

FBI agents rammed the door of the temple, shattering the glass. Metro-Dade police cordoned off a 12-block area, blocking the streets with police cars and yellow crime-scene tape.

A glass repairman fixed the damage within a few hours.

Seven defendants appeared before Miami Magistrate Peter Palermo, wearing T-shirts, shorts and sweat suits. In the sect, street clothes are known as "Dead Jacob" clothes.

One believer, Job Israel, runs a beauty parlor at the Temple of Love. He refused to be sworn or answer to his "slave name."

"I am a Hebrew Israelite, " he said. "I don't swear."

Herald staff writers Kimberly Crockett, Christine Evans, Carlos Harrison, David Lyons and Patrick May contributed to this report.