Aryan Circle Gang Member Pleads Guilty to Violent Criminal Assault in Aid of Racketeering

A member of the Aryan Circle (AC) gang pleaded guilty to committing an assault, resulting in serious bodily injury to the victim in aid racketeering. The announcement came from Assistant Attorney General Brian A. Benczowski of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division and U.S. Attorney Jeffrey B. Jensen of the Eastern District of Missouri.

Daniel B. Jerome, 31, of Wentzville, Missouri, committed aggravated assault on a fellow AC gang member in Jefferson County, Missouri, on Nov. 9, 2013. According to the plea agreement, Jerome participated in a “patch-burning,” which included violently assaulting the victim and removing the victim’s gang tattoo using a burning log. Sentencing for Jerome has been scheduled for Aug. 7, 2019, before U.S. District Judge Ronnie L. White for the Eastern District of Missouri.

The plea agreement states that the AC is a powerful race-based, multi-state organization that operates inside and outside of state and federal prisons throughout Missouri, Texas, Louisiana and the United States. The AC was established in the mid-1980s within the Texas prison system (TDCJ). In recent years, the AC’s structure and influence expanded to rural and suburban areas throughout Missouri, Texas and Louisiana. The AC emerged as an independent organization during a period of turmoil within the Aryan Brotherhood of Texas (ABT). The AC was relatively small in comparison to other prison-based gangs, but grew in stature and influence within TDCJ in the 1990s, largely through violent conflict with other gangs, white and non-white alike.

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White Supremacist Gangs Including Aryan Circle, Aryan Brotherhood of Texas, Aryan Brotherhood, & Dirty White Boys; Run Violent Drug Rings via Organized Crime Groups

Dozens of white supremacist gang members were selling methamphetamine and other illegal narcotics across Texas in a violent organized crime ring, the Department of Justice announced Monday. Officials said they charged 57 members of white supremacist gangs with kidnapping and drug conspiracies. More than 190 kilograms of methamphetamine, 31 firearms and $376,587 in cash was seized during the investigation.

The suspects were members of such groups as Aryan Circle, the Aryan Brotherhood of Texas, the Aryan Brotherhood and the Dirty White Boys, officials said. The drug operation operated from October 2015 through April 2018. Officials said they took down 42 of the suspects in an operation last week, while nine others were already in custody at the time on unrelated charges. Six of the suspects remained at large.

“Not only do white supremacists gangs subscribe to a repugnant, hateful ideology, they also engage in significant, organized and violent criminal activity,” Attorney General Jeff Sessions said in a statement. “Under the Trump administration, the Department of Justice has targeted every violent criminal gang member in the United States. The quantities of drugs, guns, and money seized in this case are staggering."

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Has the Aryan Brotherhood Gang Been Decapitated?

After a six-year investigation and a sweeping indictment naming dozens of suspects, federal authorities declared they have "decapitated" the notoriously violent prison gang known as the Aryan Brotherhood of Texas.

The final two defendants snared in the long criminal probe have pleaded guilty, prosecutors announced, capping a wide-ranging case that led to 73 convictions and decimated the gang's leadership.

"All five of the active generals for each of the regions, one for each of the regions, have been prosecuted, convicted and will spend long sentences in federal prison," said Marshall Miller, principal deputy assistant attorney general with the Department of Justice Criminal Division.

The Aryan Brotherhood of Texas, a highly structured white-supremacist gang, emerged in Texas prisons during the early 1980s. As convicts involved in the gang during its formative years finished their sentences, they carried their criminal enterprises into the free world as an organized crime group often controlled from inside prison walls.

"The Aryan Brotherhood of Texas – or ABT – launched its brutal, murderous and racist ideology from within the prisons of the state of Texas," Miller said. "Unfortunately, ABT then unleashed a violent crime spree that jumped the prison walls and infected communities."

An indictment unsealed in 2012 drew a detailed portrait of the Aryan Brotherhood of Texas as a sophisticated organized crime group with a military-style structure and a written constitution widely circulated in Texas prisons. The group's leadership routinely used murder, kidnappings, arson and severe beatings as enforcement tactics, the indictment said.

"You name it," Miller said. "Drugs, kidnappings, assaults, murders attempted murders. They ran the gamut."

The indictment makes the Aryan Brotherhood looks less like a prison gang than a classic organized crime syndicate with military titles. Five generals control five different regions of the state, authorities said, with each general controlling two separate chains of command – one inside prisons and one in the free world. Each general has an "inside major" and an "outside major" overseeing several captains, lieutenants, sergeants-at-arms and soldiers.

All five active generals have been convicted, authorities said, along with one "acting" general and a former general who was also a founding member of the gang. At a news conference attended by law enforcement authorities from some of the dozens of agencies that worked on the case, officials displayed a poster showing where each of 36 defendants swept up in the latest indictment fit into the group's organizational structure.

"Today was the plea of the last defendant in the case," said Ken Magidson, the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Texas. "So all 36 defendants in the indictment have been convicted."

Only three of the gang members have been sentenced, facing prison terms of 10 to 30 years. A woman associated with the gang was sentenced to 6 ½ years. The rest of the defendants are scheduled for sentencing in October.

Thanks to Doug Miller.

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Two Aryan Brotherhood Gang Members Plead Guilty to Federal Racketeering Charges

Two Aryan Brotherhood of Texas (ABT) gang members have pleaded guilty to racketeering charges related to their membership in the ABT’s criminal enterprise, announced Assistant Attorney General Leslie R. Caldwell of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division and U.S. Attorney Kenneth Magidson of the Southern District of Texas.

Steven Worthey, of San Antonio, Texas, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Sim Lake in the Southern District of Texas to one count of conspiracy to participate in racketeering activity. James Lawrence Burns, aka “Chance,” of Dallas, Texas, pleaded guilty to the same charge on July 3, 2014.

According to court documents, Worthey, Burns and other ABT gang members and associates agreed to commit multiple acts of murder, robbery, arson, kidnapping and narcotics trafficking on behalf of the ABT gang. Worthey, Burns and numerous ABT gang members met on a regular basis at various locations throughout Texas to report on gang-related business, collect dues, commit disciplinary assaults against fellow gang members and discuss acts of violence against rival gang members, among other things.

By pleading guilty to racketeering charges, Worthey and Burns admitted to being members of the ABT criminal enterprise.

According to the superseding indictment, the ABT was established in the early 1980s within the Texas prison system. The gang modeled itself after and adopted many of the precepts and writings of the Aryan Brotherhood, a California-based prison gang that was formed in the California prison system during the 1960s. According to the superseding indictment, the ABT was primarily concerned with the protection of white inmates and white supremacy/separatism. Over time, the ABT expanded its criminal enterprise to include illegal activities for profit.

Court documents allege that the ABT enforced its rules and promoted discipline among its members, prospects and associates through murder, attempted murder, conspiracy to murder, arson, assault, robbery and threats against those who violated the rules or posed a threat to the enterprise. Members, and oftentimes associates, were required to follow the orders of higher-ranking members, often referred to as “direct orders.”

According to the superseding indictment, in order to be considered for ABT membership, a person must be sponsored by another gang member. Once sponsored, a prospective member must serve an unspecified term, during which he is referred to as a prospect, while his conduct is observed by the members of the ABT.

Worthey and Burns are both scheduled to be sentenced on Oct. 8, 2014. Each faces a maximum penalty of life in prison.

Worthey and Burns are two of 36 defendants charged with conducting racketeering activity through the ABT criminal enterprise, among other charges. To date, 32 defendants have pleaded guilty.

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Two #AryanBrotherhood Members Plead Guilty to Federal Racketeering Charges

Two Aryan Brotherhood of Texas (ABT) gang members pleaded guilty to racketeering charges related to their membership in the ABT’s criminal enterprise, announced Acting Assistant Attorney General David A. O’Neil of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division and U.S. Attorney Kenneth Magidson of the Southern District of Texas.

Kelley Ray Elley, of Austin, Texas, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Sim Lake in the Southern District of Texas to one count of conspiracy to participate in racketeering activity.  Jamie Grant Loveall, aka “Dutch,” of Houston, pleaded guilty to the same charge on May 1, 2014.

According to court documents, Elley, Loveall and other ABT gang members and associates agreed to commit multiple acts of murder, robbery, arson, kidnapping and narcotics trafficking on behalf of the ABT gang.  Elley, Loveall and numerous ABT gang members met on a regular basis at various locations throughout Texas to report on gang-related business, collect dues, commit disciplinary assaults against fellow gang members and discuss acts of violence against rival gang members, among other things.  

By pleading guilty to racketeering charges, Elley and Loveall admitted to being members of the ABT criminal enterprise.

According to the superseding indictment, the ABT was established in the early 1980s within the Texas prison system.  The gang modeled itself after and adopted many of the precepts and writings of the Aryan Brotherhood, a California-based prison gang that was formed in the California prison system during the 1960s.  According to the superseding indictment, the ABT was primarily concerned with the protection of white inmates and white supremacy/separatism.   Over time, the ABT expanded its criminal enterprise to include illegal activities for profit.

Court documents allege that the ABT enforced its rules and promoted discipline among its members, prospects and associates through murder, attempted murder, conspiracy to murder, arson, assault, robbery and threats against those who violated the rules or posed a threat to the enterprise.  Members, and oftentimes associates, were required to follow the orders of higher-ranking members, often referred to as “direct orders.”

According to the superseding indictment, in order to be considered for ABT membership, a person must be sponsored by another gang member.  Once sponsored, a prospective member must serve an unspecified term, during which he is referred to as a prospect, while his conduct is observed by the members of the ABT.

Loveall and Elley are both scheduled to be sentenced on Oct. 7, 2014.  Each faces a maximum penalty of life in prison.

Loveall and Elley are two of 36 defendants charged with conducting racketeering activity through the ABT criminal enterprise, among other charges.  To date, 26 defendants have pleaded guilty.  

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