Three members of the Aryan Brotherhood, Ronald “Renegade” Yandell, Danny Troxell, and William Sylvester, have been found guilty of operating a criminal organization. The verdict was reached after a lengthy trial that exposed secrets on both sides of the law. The charges against the defendants include conspiracy to commit murder, racketeering, drug distribution, and smuggling contraband into prison.
The Aryan Brotherhood, an all-white prison gang, is said to control the majority of white inmates in California prisons and is involved in various drug trafficking activities. The trial provided a comprehensive overview of the gang’s inner workings, with evidence including recorded conversations obtained through a two-month wiretap operation led by the Drug Enforcement Administration.
Yandell’s defense claimed that prison officials and federal authorities were retaliating against him for his political activism while behind bars, including his involvement in a prisoner-led hunger strike to end solitary confinement. He also blamed a deceased dropout gang member, Gary Littrell, for ordering the murder of a former San Quentin Six member who had been targeted by prison gangs for years.
Sylvester’s lawyer argued that the fatal stabbing of a fellow inmate at California State Prison, Sacramento, was motivated by Sylvester’s dislike of a “known child molester” rather than gang-related reasons as prosecutors contended. Troxell’s lawyer portrayed him as a peacemaker who used his influential status to prevent murders rather than order them.
The trial lasted nearly three months and featured a wide range of witnesses, including former prisoners, drug couriers, and the head of California prisons, Jeffrey Macomber. Macomber testified as a defense witness about warnings received before the murder of Hugo “Yogi” Pinell, a Black Guerrilla Family member, by two Aryan Brotherhood members who had earned their way into the gang through a prison stabbing.
The verdict, which carries a sentence of life in federal prison, is expected to result in the defendants being housed in maximum security facilities that limit their ability to obtain contraband phones and continue running the gang. However, complications have arisen regarding the acceptance of one of the co-defendants, Brant “Two Scoops” Daniel, by the Bureau of Prisons.
The trial shed light on the criminal activities of the Aryan Brotherhood and its influence within the California prison system. The evidence presented, including drugs, inmate-made knives, and testimonies from former gang members, provided a comprehensive understanding of the gang’s operations.
Chief U.S. District Judge Kimberly Mueller expressed gratitude to the jurors for their service at the conclusion of the trial. The verdict comes after three other co-defendants had previously pleaded guilty to prison murders, with the exception that they would receive life sentences instead of the death penalty.
As the trial concluded, the defense team for Yandell revealed an email written by DEA case agent Brian Nehring, which referenced Yandell’s role as an uncharged co-conspirator in a famous RICO case involving the Aryan Brotherhood. The defense used this email as evidence in a motion to dismiss the case for “vindictive prosecution.”
2 Responses
I remember reading about a similar case a few years ago that involved a notorious criminal organization in my city. It was a shocking revelation to learn about the extent of their operations and the crimes they were involved in.
The gang, which had been operating for years, had its members involved in various illegal activities, including drug trafficking, extortion, and even murder. They had a strict hierarchy and code of conduct, which made it difficult for law enforcement to infiltrate and dismantle the organization.
I had always heard
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