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U.S. NEWS Friday 7 June 2019

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Leaders of white supremacist prison gang charged in killings

By DON THOMPSON not following the rules. sentation for the counts un-
Associated Press Despite its racist philosophy, veiled Thursday.
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — the Aryan Brotherhood had The charges also allege
Leaders of the Aryan Broth- a drug smuggling partner- that cellmates Ronald
erhood prison gang were ship with the Mexican Ma- "Renegade" Yandell, 56,
charged Thursday with fia, prosecutors said. and William Sylvester, 51,
directing killings and drug Among the inmates used smuggled cellphones
smuggling from within Cali- charged is Daniel "Danny" to direct heroin and meth-
fornia's most secure prisons, Troxell, 66, a convicted kill- amphetamine trafficking
U.S. prosecutors said. er serving a life sentence operations in California
The charges detail five who was known for writing Yandell, serving a life sen-
slayings and accuse an at- a federal complaint in 2009 tence for a double mur-
torney of helping smuggle that eventually led Califor- der, is described as one of
drugs and cellphones to nia to curb the use of soli- the gang's three-member
aid the white supremacist tary confinement. leadership commission, as
gang. He formed an unusual is Troxell.
Sixteen Aryan Brotherhood cease-fire alliance with La Palma attorney Kevin
members and associates leaders of other blood-ri- Macnamara is charged
are accused of running the val gangs to promote the with trying to smuggle
criminal enterprise using complaint. It eventually methamphetamine, to-
contraband cellphones, led to hundreds of gang bacco and cellphones.
encrypted chats, text mes- members and associates Guards reported finding
sages, multimedia messag- being released back into three phones, plastic wrap- This combination of photos provided by the California Depart-
es and email. the general prison popu- pers and power cables ment of Corrections and Rehabilitation shows, top row, Kevin
Among them are nine cur- lation, where investigators concealed in the seat McNamara left, and William Sylvester; and bottom row, Daniel
rent inmates charged with say some committed new cushion of Macnamara's Troxell, left, and Ronald Yandell.
racketeering, conspiracy crimes. wheelchair. Associated Press
and other charges, and Prison officials said it's dif- Macnamara, 39, did not
seven people outside pris- ficult to keep up with the immediately respond to an
on accused of assisting the changing tactics of gangs email seeking comment
gang in activities in Las Ve- behind bars. and the voicemail box on
gas and as far east as Mis- "The gangs evolve, their his phone was full.
souri and South Dakota. techniques evolve and "We have a long way to go
"What started as a seem- they change," Califor- in this case," said defense
ingly simple drug buy on nia Corrections Secretary attorney Candice Fields,
the streets of Sacramento Ralph Diaz said. "We will who represents Kristen De-
led us into the dark, nasty adapt and move along mar, 44, who is charged /arubatoday/
and brutally violent under- with them with posing as Macna-
belly of the California prison Black Guerilla Family leader mara's paralegal to help
system," said Christopher Hugo "Yogi" Pinell, a killer smuggle contraband.
Nielson, local special agent with ties to the 1960s black "With all of the moving parts
in charge with the U.S. Drug revolutionary movement, it is impossible to say right
Enforcement Administra- was among those released now how things will turn
tion. "Notoriously danger- after 45 years in isolation. out," Fields said.
ous inmates aren't neces- Two Aryan Brotherhood as- Authorities have been try-
sarily thwarted by prison sociates, acting on the or- ing to bring down the
walls." ders of gang leaders, killed Aryan Brotherhood — also A great opportunity exist to work in a dynamic
Sacramento-based U.S. the 71-year-old Pinell days known as The Brand — for company, for compelling, ambitious individuals.
attorney McGregor Scott after he was moved in 2015 decades. We have openings for;
called the charges "a very to a Sacramento-area pris- The gang was formed by
significant setback for one on, prosecutors say. white inmates in the mid- Gemologist
of California's most notori- Pinell became infamous as 1960s and has a policy of
ous prison gangs." a member of San Quen- "blood in, blood out," hold- Diamond Grader
Prosecutors said one victim tin 6, helping slit the throat ing that full members must
was a longtime leader of a of prison guards during kill to gain entry and can Jewelry Appraiser
rival black gang, killed just a failed 1971 escape at- only leave when they die,
days after he was released tempt that left six dead. though authorities said
from decades of solitary Troxell and Pinell long de- there are exceptions. Mem-
confinement. The other nied being gang members. bers who don't kill when or-
four were Aryan Brother- Most of the defendants did dered to do so risk being
hood associates, killed for not yet have legal repre- slain themselves.q