Yandell and Sylvester oversaw a significant heroin and methamphetamine trafficking operation from their shared cell. Prosecutors said one victim was a longtime leader of a rival black gang, killed just days after he was released from decades of solitary confinement. The U.S. Attorneys office has countered that it was Daniel who was caught plotting to murder a corrections officer, not the other way around, and theyve floated a picture of a large prison shank allegedly found in his bunk as proof. If convicted on the murder in aid of racketeering charges, each of the five defendants face a mandatory life sentence, or the possibility of the death penalty. He told officers that he had made at least five prior trips to transport methamphetamine. Aryan Brotherhood vs 5 percenters and Muslims, Massive Yard Rumble. Court records also said that the defendants were seen 'eyeing locks,' exchanging secret messages, and that another alleged Aryan Brotherhood member, Samuel Keeton, had tampered with the lighting device in his cell. Two of the defendants have filed federal lawsuits against Sacramento County in recent months. Sylvester and his cellmate, Yandell, allegedly used smuggled cell phones to organize heroin and methamphetamine in California. Officials at the other, the Sacramento Jail, acknowledged that they had recorded privileged attorney/client meetings last year, an admission only recently made public through a lawsuit by an alleged high-ranking Aryan Brotherhood member. The Aryan Brotherhood, also known as the Brand or the AB, is a neo-Nazi prison gang and an organized crime syndicate which is based in the United States and has an estimated 15,000-20,000 members both inside and outside prisons. They say two Aryan Brotherhood associates killed the 71-year-old Pinell days after he was moved in 2015 to a Sacramento-area prison. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites. The federal organization and the state chapters of the gang enlarged concurrently but on separate trajectories, forming two disparate branches with similar hierarchical structures, largely by absorbing assorted small skinhead gangs and growing exponentially. U.S. Attorney's Office. They used smuggled-in cellphones to direct their drug trafficking activity from their cell to the streets of Sacramento and other California cities. Nate Gartrell covers crime and corruption in Contra Costa County. In a 60-square-mile area of rural Central Texas where the Aryan Brotherhood gang was selling as much as four kilos of the drug each month, meth was taking a toll. The complaint charges California State Prison inmates RonaldYandell, 56; Daniel Danny Troxell, 66; William Sylvester, 51; Travis Burhop, 46; BrantDaniel, 44; Donald Mazza, 48, Pat Brady, 48; Michael Torres, 55; and Jason Corbett, 47. The defendants proposed a solution: moving from the Sacramento Jail to Sacramento State Prison, where two of the defendants Ronald Renegade Yandell and Billy Silvester were incarcerated before the federal indictment. Police investigating whether white-supremacist prison gang behind He formed an unusual cease-fire alliance with leaders of other blood-rival gangs to promote the complaint. Five other individuals were also arrested as part of the investigation: Samuel Keeton,40, of Menifee; Jeanna Quesenberry, 52, of Sacramento; Kevin MacNamara, 39, of LaPalma; Kristen Demar, 44, of Citrus Heights; and Justin Petty, 37, of Los Angeles. The case has stalled on this issue for more than a year, in part thanks for the COVID-19 pandemic. There are two main options in the Sacramento area, where the charges were filed in June 2019. Notoriously dangerous inmates arent necessarily thwarted by prison walls., Sacramento-based U.S. attorney McGregor Scott called the charges a very significant setback for one of Californias most notorious prison gangs.. The Aryan Brotherhoods criminal enterprises include extortion, narcotics trafficking, murder, male prostitution, and gambling operations. Aryan Brotherhood Tried for 40 Years of Prison Mayhem. 1 (abbreviated as PEN1; pronounced / p i n a /), also known as PENI Death Squad (or PDS), is a prison and street gang formed in Long Beach, California and now based in Orange County, California. 2023 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. They say its virtually impossible for them to conduct private meetings and phone calls, while prosecutors called the accusations a baseless stall tactic. If they are released from prison, members are still expected to help other members, including those still incarcerated. Aryan Brotherhood prosecution appears deadlocked amid shocking Thompson and Hutchins also were accused of falsely applying for EDD benefits themselves, alleging they were working while they were still in prison, and they are suspected of $1.5 million in loan fraud, authorities said. This case was part of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF). Pinell became infamous as a member of San Quentin Six, helping slit the throat of prison guards during a failed 1971 escape attempt that left six dead. He joined the Bay Area News Group in 2014. Not judging anyone just telling it like I saw it and from my point of view. As early as September 2019, federal prosecutors and the Sacramento Sheriffs office were floating Booth Q as a solution to concerns raised by the defense team in the Aryan Brotherhood case: that phones in the secured housing pod where theyre incarcerated werent confidential, and that sounds from visiting booths bled into the adjacent booth, making it easy for someone to eavesdrop on privileged communications. Among the items seized in the prisons were cellphones and drugs. 16:01 BST 05 Aug 2021 Methamphetaminealso known as meth and ice because it is usually sold in crystallized formcan devastate communities. The charges are only allegations; the defendants are presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. Last April, the Sacramento Bee reported that the FBI is investigating further wrongdoing at the prison, and interviewed a person Daniels defense team is touting as a confidential source who can back up their claims. Yandell and Sylvester oversaw a significant heroin and methamphetamine trafficking operation from their shared cell. "Aryan Brotherhood is notorious for using violence to keep discipline in its ranks, and probably at the top of that list would be informants," said Brian Levin, director of the Center for the. Justice News. Dear Abby: Am I overreacting to my European daughter-in-law's behavior? June 6, 2019 / 1:20 PM The charges allege multiple murders of those who run afoul of the gang, as well as an active drug trafficking operation that spans multiple counties and states.