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Leaders of violent prison gang convicted

Posted on: Friday, 28 July 2006, 18:21 CDT

By Dan Whitcomb and Kemp Powers

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Four leaders of the Aryan Brotherhood were found guilty of murder, racketeering and conspiracy on Friday in a case intended to destroy one of America's most feared prison gangs.

Brotherhood chief Barry "The Baron" Mills, his top lieutenant Tyler "The Hulk" Bingham, Christopher Gibson and Edgar "Snail" Hevle were convicted under U.S. racketeering laws of carrying out a campaign of killings and violence to cement their control behind bars.

The four defendants, who sport matching walrus mustaches and were chained to the floor throughout the trial, showed no emotion as the verdicts were read under heavy security in a federal courtroom in Santa Ana.

The jury acquitted Mills and Bingham on a single murder count but the two men could be sentenced to death after a penalty phase set to begin on August 15. Gibson and Hevle face life in prison.

Both prosecutors and defense attorneys declined to comment on the verdicts because of the upcoming penalty phase.

Prosecutors say the Aryan Brotherhood, also known as "the Brand," dominated other prison gangs by being particularly ruthless, directing murders and assaults through notes written in code or with invisible ink made with fruit juice or urine.

Devan Hawkes, a guard specializing in gangs at California's top security Pelican Bay State Prison, said experts disagree over whether convicting gang members already serving long sentences served a practical purpose, but said he favored holding them accountable.

"Even if a person is serving a life sentence here in California, they may reach that level where they start appearing before a (parole) board hearing their term," he said.

"The Aryan Brotherhood is one of the major prison gangs and are considered to be extremely dangerous," he said.

"They manufacture weapons from just about anything you could imagine inside the prison. They use those weapons to assault officers as well as other inmates. They also are involved in narcotics trafficking."

Defense lawyers argued that their clients had banded together in self defense amid violent racial warfare in maximum security U.S. prisons. They said the government based its case on "a parade of perjurers" who cooperated in exchange for cash and leniency.

Prosecutors may ultimately seek the death penalty against 16 members of the gang in a sweeping case that they say ranks among the largest death penalty prosecutions in U.S. history.

Forty people were originally charged in the case in 2002. Since then, 19 have struck plea bargains and another has died. Trials are pending for the rest.

Source: REUTERS

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