On July 12, 2007, fourteen men alleged to be members of the Nevada prison-based Aryan Warriors gang, were named in a five-count federal indictment charging each with being a member of a criminal racketeering organization (RICO). The Grand Jury Indictment charged the group with knife attacks, murder, extortion, corruption, illegal gambling, unauthorized use of or possession of access devices, and manufacture and distribution of controlled substances.
Five of those charged in the indictment were named leaders of the prison gang:
Ronald “Uncle Joey” Sellers, 39, horn-holder, identified as the leader.
Daniel Joseph “Dano”Egan, 32, identified as a horn-holder, and second in command.
James Milton “Gargoyle” Wallis, identified as a horn-holder.
Ronnie Lee “RJ” Jones, 47. identified as a horn-holder.
Guy Edward Almony, 35, also known as B-More, or Baltimore, identified as a horn-holder.
Tony Howard Morgan, 38, identified as an associate.
Kenneth Russell “Yum-Yum” Krum, 37, also known as “Big Pimping,” or “Barnyard,” was identified as a bolt-holder and lieutenant.
Charles Edward Gensemer, 43, identified as an associate.
Scott Michael “Knucklehead” Sieber, 39, identified as a bolt-holder.
Jason F. “J-Bird” Inman, 32,, identified as a bolt-holder.
Charles Lee “Cowboy”Axtell, 47, identified as a soldier/prospect.
Michael “Big Mike” Yost, 53, identified as a soldier/prospect.
Robert Allen “Lil’ Rob” Young, identified as a bolt-holder.
Kory Allen “Lobes?” Crossman, 34, identified as an associate.
Special Agent, Steve Martinez, in charge of the FBI office in Las Vegas, said the gang was responsible for manufacturing and distributing methamphetamine and marijuana in Nevada prisons and the cities of Las Vegas, Pahrump and Reno.
“The goal of this investigation, accomplished by these arrests,” Martinez told the Las Vegas Sun, “was to significantly dismantle the Aryan Warriors organization by removing its leadership in the Nevada prison system, and disrupting its street program.”
Sellers, Egan, and a third suspect, face additional charges of engaging in violent crime in aid of racketeering, stemming from allegations they ordered knife assaults against prison inmates, and on at least one occasion, the beating of a free person in a Las Vegas home.
Other charges levied against the gang, included compromising staff members. By doing this, it was alleged the gang hoped to gain control over all drug and other contraband coming into the prisons. They also wanted to keep staff from interfering when they attacked other inmates. What attracted the federal scrutiny was apparently the in-prison murder of Jacob Armstrong, a 21-year old Las Vegas inmate who had been locked up since he was 15 years-old. On August 10, 2001, in Ely State Prison, Armstrong was stabbed repeatedly only minutes after being moved into a cell occupied by Paul Derischebourg. At the time, Derischebourg, was regarded as one of the AW leaders, and allegedly murdered Armstrong because he felt Armstrong did not share the racists beliefs of the AWs. At trial, Derischebourg was found guilty of the murder and was sentenced to two life terms without parole.
Though Derischebourg is no longer thought to be an AW gang member, and was not named in the latest indictment, Howard Skolnik, prison Director, said after the trial, “This was a murder that was driven by instructions from the gang leadership. It was something we hadn’t seen in a while.”
Prison officials estimated the gang’s strength to be only about 100 hard-core, most of who are housed at ESP or HDSP. “They are minuscule,” said Gerald Gardner, the prosecutor who tried the case, “but they are very organized and disciplined. The other gangs are afraid of them and respectful of them.” Gardner added that some correctional officers and some inmates are of the opinion the AW presence on the yard helps to maintain order and balance among other gangs.
Will this latest federal indictment shatter the gang once again, or will it serve as a source of unity? Will the AWs continue to perpetuate Aryan supremacy? Will they continue to be a controlling factor on the yard, or will they again self-destruct as happened in the past?
The AWs actually became a gang during the early 1970s at the century-old Nevada State Prison, in Carson City, at the time, the state’s only maximum security facility. During this period of time, the yard was beset with violence. Knife attacks and assaults were frequent. Some yard murders that occurred at that time, are still carried as unsolved. Racial problems abounded. The blacks for the most part were street-wise school dropouts from Las Vegas. Many of them were interrelated and had ran together on the Vegas streets. At Max, they ganged up together. Clashes between them and the white and Indian inmates were frequent. What the whites lacked was unity and strong leadership. This would be forthcoming.
A clever, but brutal, young white inmate at the time, (who we’ll refer to as Mitch) was sent to California on an interstate compact and housed at Folsom. While there, he became friendly with Aryan Brotherhood gang members, who schooled him on the finer aspects of creating a whites-only prison gang. Mitch, who had come to prison from Las Vegas with a violent criminal background, was drawn into the Aryan concept very well. When he returned to NSP, he began systematically to organize white inmates into what would become a violent racist prison gang: the Aryan Warriors. Their perceived goal was to protect the white inmates from the blacks. But, in truth, their goal was control of all the lucrative prison crime. And they vowed to achieve this through violence if necessary.
Mitch was a natural leader. Under his guidance, a Constitution was drawn up outlining the fledgling gang’s structure. A ruling body--a Council of six--was formed from a number of strong whites, all of whom possessed special skills in leadership, weapons making, deadly fighting techniques, and other essential abilities.
The newly enacted Council opened the doors to recruitment. Strong and willing adherents were selected as prospects. A prospect had to obey the will of the Council. Whatever he was told to do, had to be accepted without question. But above all, he had to be white and prepared to go to war with the blacks for complete control of the yard.
Once a prospect was sponsored, he was given a bloody mission to complete. Upon satisfactory completion, he was awarded the coveted lightning bolts, tattooed inside the left biceps. This ink confirmed him as a member. As such, he was then a brother. If another brother was put in check by a black, his brothers would retaliate with force. No insult, no matter how minor, would not go unanswered. Brothers backed up brothers.
The next step up from the bolt-holder, was a horn-holder. This award could only be garnered following a satisfactory tour of duty as a bolt-holder, and completion of another successful bloody mission. The identifying tattoo, a Viking helmet with horns, and the initials, “A W,” was tattooed on the left upper chest. All Council members became horn-holders.
The blacks didn’t take kindly to the newly organized white prison gang. They continued to harass weaker whites through assaults, cell thefts, demanding sexual favors, and other intimidating tactics. It was time for the AWs to protect their own.
Through a series of meetings with Tribal members, the AWs gained their support. The Indians too, had their own problems with the blacks. For the first time in the prison’s bloody history, the whites and Indians agreed to hook up together to bloody the blacks.
Veteran correctional officers sniffed the air. Something was amiss. Inmates were checking into protective custody at an unusual rate. Canteen sales soared. Racial groupings on the yard were eyed with foreboding.
The officer’s fears were realized during a noon-time meal in the culinary, in 1976. On that fateful day, white and Native inmates entered the culinary wearing bulging prison issue denim jackets stuffed with magazines and cardboard (body armor), and concealed weapons. Though this should have alerted the officers, the inmates were allowed inside without being patted down.
As they moved through the chow line, these inmates were unusually grim faced and sullen. Most of the blacks though, appeared to be relaxed, unsuspecting. As usual, the culinary tables were segregated. Each inmate sat with others of his own race (during this era, the prison had only a few Hispanics).
Abruptly, as if on cue, whites and Natives leaped up from their tables. One burly white inmate rushed to block the gas gun-port with his food tray. Others rushed to barricade the exit door. Alarmed blacks jumped to their feet, spilling food and shouting. Frightened culinary officers were allowed to rush outside past the blocked doorway. Bedlam erupted.
Whites and Indians slashing out with shanks and impact weapons, swarmed over the blacks, most of whom were thrust into a fight for their lives. One con-wise black grabbed a four-foot aluminum ladle from the chow line which he whirled like a helicopter blade to keep the attackers away. Others, unable to get any kind of weapon, tried to escape the carnage by fighting past the blocked exit door. Lethal food trays became deadly weapons, and sliced through the air amid screams of fear and pain. Inexplicably, one burly Indian lifted up a bloody black inmate from the floor and gently placed him behind the food line and safety. The Indian then jumped back into the melee using a laundry bag weighted with a food can to pummel other blacks.
And then, just as suddenly as it had started, the carnage subsided as whites and Indians, poured back outside through the exit door. The few correctional officers responding to the melee did little to stop them, but did try mentally to identify each one for future reference. But the officers dare not enter the culinary without firearms. Sirens heard in the distance promised to bring the cavalry.
When the culinary was finally secured, it was roped off with crime scene yellow tape. . Inside, two black inmates lie dead amid the scraps of food and utensils littering the floor. Several others had been taken into town by ambulance. The prison was placed in total lockdown. Inmates were fed bologna sandwiches for supper inside their cells. Loud complaints were voiced by blacks. Whites and Indians spoke in subdued tones. They knew an uneasy investigation would be forthcoming, and would last for months.
In the following months, scores of whites and Indians were placed under investigation, and moved to lockup. Endless legal proceedings followed for the next two years. A few inmates were given additional life sentences. Only one, Claude Theriault 11872, was sentenced to death. After a decade on death row, his sentence was commuted to life without. He died at NSP of natural causes several years ago.
The AWs continued their reign. Inmates were moved periodically between NSP and NNCC. By so doing, NNCC, which was less secure than NSP, became another AW stronghold. However; the AWs had reached their peak. When they no longer had to battle the blacks, they turned their attention to other whites. Weaker whites were forced to have their families send in money for the brothers. Others were coerced into bringing drugs in through visiting, or “tonguing” their infirmary meds. Still, others were forced into yard prostitution. Dissension among white inmates began to grow. The AWs were in for a fall. In a sense, a small-in-stature chronic crook named Danny Jackson, was the catalyst that led to the their downfall, though it cost him his life.
Jackson, who was housed in protective custody at NSP, was on the AW hit list. He had only a couple of months left on his sentence, and was content to stay put until discharge. Though members of the AWs had other ideas. They sent him kites through law clerks. He was told all was forgiven. He could come out of pc, with no problems, he was told. They further enticed him with promises of pot and other drugs. As the AWs surmised, Danny Jackson was one of the most gullible inmates housed at NSP. The unsuspecting crook convinced his counselor to move him back to general population
After he moved to the yard, the AWs gained his confidence. On November 5, 1980, a large number of brothers were working out on the lower yard under the watchful eye of the officer manning Gun-post-1. Jackson, unsuspecting, came out of the ancient four-tiered stone-block cellhouse and ambled on over to the iron-pile where the brothers were driving.
This was the moment they had been waiting for. On cue, a few of the brothers left the iron-pile and walked over to the lower yard bathroom and went inside. They told Jackson they were going to smoke dope. Unwary, Jackson, followed them inside--a fatal mistake. In military precision, two others came over and placed themselves outside the door as point (lookout). When one scruffy inmate made a move to go inside, he was pushed away and warned, “Don’t go in there, the brothers are taking care of business.”
Muffled screams mixed with coarse profanity permeated the age-old stone walls. This went on for nearly ten minutes, and then abruptly, the AWs came out of the bathroom and began to split up.
“I...I couldn’t believe it,” one of them nervously stammered, “It took five of us to kill that little mother-----------! He damn near bit my finger off. If I hadn’t had my gloves on he would’ve.”
“Shut up!” Another cautioned. Within a minute, there were no AWs on the yard.
The officer in 1-post sensed something, and notified 7-post. A few S&E officers hurried to the yard. Inside the bathroom, the body of Danny Jackson, one-time cheap crook, lie sprawled on the concrete floor. A makeshift garrotte was knotted tightly around his neck. Hand-held radios crackled. The prison came to a standstill. Speakers blared “Recall. Recall, clear the yard.” The prison gates slammed shut. Total lockdown ensued.
Within days, the Administration began receiving snitch kites. Surprisingly, many of the kites were sent from AW members, eager to roll over and cut a deal. Bobby McGinnis, 12006 and Ricky Mello, 12007; early AW founders were two of the first to roll over. They hoped to get a reduction in their multiple life sentences. Chris Sevey, 13977, too, rolled, as did many others.
Some though, hung tough. vowing to kill anybody who snitched. Several names of toughs that come to mind, were Claude Theriault, 11872; Jimmy Taylor, 11871; Walter “Lefty” Rogers, 9165; Jerry “Old Folks,” Bishop, 11287; Daniel Brimmage, 12192; Charlie Cooper, 13057; Raymond “Baby Ray” Lovell, 11987 and Eddie Eckert, 13346. Of course there were others, on both sides of the fence who are not named here.
An early AW who wielded tremendous influence at NSP, back then, was Pat McKenna, 14968 (current back number), from Las Vegas. McKenna, who was once described as “the most dangerous inmate in the Nevada Prison system,” is now housed on death row, ESP. His bio reads like a feature from “True Detective Magazine:”
1958. Age 12, truancy problems.
1960. Sent to Elko reformatory for stabbing another youth.
1963. Only 17-years old, he and his gang nearly beat to death Bob Coffin, in Las Vegas. Coffin is currently a State Senator.
1964. Sent to Nevada prison for raping a woman.
1965. Guards find the bars of his cell have been cut.
1966. He escapes from prison, hiding in a garbage can, but turns himself in when the weather turns cold.
1967. Escaped from prison along with six others, and took a C/O hostage before being caught the same day.
1968. Guards find his cell bars cut, and a hidden shank.
1973. Leads another escape attempt, again taking hostages.
1976. Is paroled in June. Five days later he takes a woman hostage in Sparks, and takes her to a home in Reno where he sexually assaults her.
1978. In March, is again released from prison and in May, shoots a man in the back of the head. In July, in Las Vegas, he rapes two women and threatens to kill them.
1979. In Las Vegas, while in the Clark County Jail, he is convicted of rape. He also kills his cell mate, J. J. Nobles, ostensibly over a chess game (though there is more to this than that). On August 25, while awaiting trial on the Nobles murder, he gets a gun and takes hostages, threatening to “blow the knees of two correctional officers.” In the ensuing shootout, two inmates are killed. When he is told the D.A. will go after the death penalty, he warned, “If they do, I’ll kill anybody who gets in my way.”
1980. Receives the death penalty for killing Nobles. After being sent to NSP, he tries another escape attempt taking 11 hostages. He gives up after the CC SWAT team comes into the max unit where he is, with guns blazing.
1985. A weapon is found in his cell at NSP.
1988. After he was shipped to ESP, we searched his NSP Unit-7 cell, and find he had succeeded in cutting through the first of three steel walls directly under the cell’s narrow horizontal window. He had cleverly used toothpaste to conceal the cutting.
In 1991. An elaborate escape attempt was foiled at ESP after other inmates gave up the plan.
Pat McKenna could be quite disarming. Personable, well groomed, with a friendly smile, when locked up. But, when taking hostages, or when committing sadistic rapes, a different picture emerged.
The only ink I ever saw on McKenna, was the bolts and horns of the Aryan Warriors. When the gang crumbled, many of the leaders covered their insignia in order to keep out of lockup. McKenna never did. As far as I know, he still carries them.
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Robert “Bob” Manly, of the Attorney General’s office, was given the task of securing convictions of those responsible for Jackson’s death. The AW rollovers lined up. A pattern emerged: An AW rollover would send a kite to the Administration. Admin, in turn, set up appointments for the inmate in town at the AG’s office. After making their best deal with Manly, they were shipped to NNCC, and housed in N-wing, Unit-5. Our orders were to keep them alive until trial.
N-wing, Unit-5, became known as the rat cellar. The “rats”soon began to make demands on the Administration. “We want better food,” they demanded. “We want contact visits,” “We want...we want, etc, etc.” When Admin balked, the inmates took their pleas to Manly. They knew a conviction lie in their hands. Manly was aspiring.
Soon, Manly was bringing in fast food from the streets. Ice cream, hamburgers,
pizzas, and more. He became known as “Pizza Bob.” The inmate rollovers also pressured him to coerce Admin into letting them make unlimited phone calls. The Administration went along with the program. They too wanted convictions, worried that Jackson’s family would sue.
In the end, Manly got what he was after. Michael Mercado, 13651; James Russo, 13666; and Pat Price, 17557, were convicted of the murder of Danny Jackson. They all went through a series of appeals. Price won his case and was eventually released. Mercado and Russo were hammered with life sentences. Manly, who we thought would rise in rank at the AG’s office, surprised us all when he quit, and moved back to the Midwest.
Many of the hardcore AWs were moved out of state. Others, were kept in lockup for years. Chris Sevey, 13977, and other rollovers eventually got medium custody at NNCC. For Sevey, it didn’t work out well. One day, while asleep in his dorm, a dozen or so prison toughs doused him with a flammable liquid and lit him up. He survived, but with serious third degree burns. His attackers were eventually sent to ESP.
At ESP, the whites had started another prison gang: The Aryan Circle. The AC was short lived. It too, would suffer the same ignominious finale as had the AWs. Rollovers again would help secure a conviction:
At ESP, the white inmates resented a close relationship that existed between Joe Beeson, 27159, a blond-haired killer from Utah, and a black, Donald “Tuffy” Hampton, 14913. During secret meetings, the AC toughs put Beeson’s name in the hat. As in the Danny Jackson murder, history was to be repeated. AC hopeful David Staude, 24687, and others rolled in on Beeson one day and garroted him, after having first placed points outside his cell to keep others away. Again, as in the Jackson killing, rollovers lined up to rat off their brothers. Convictions ensued.
After this, many of the early members of the Aryan Warriors who had been sent out of state, were returned to Nevada, and housed at ESP. These con-wise returnees denounced the AC as a rat nest. They made it known, the only white prison gang in Nevada would be the Aryan Warriors. Like the Phoenix, they would rise again. However, safeguards would be put into effect, that it was hoped, would prevent their internal destruction again. This became the nucleus of today’s Aryan Warrior gang.
What now? Will the AWs self destruct again behind this RICO indictment? Will rollovers line up to testify? Possibly. But I don’t think the AW will be put out of business. I think the organization is much better structured today than it was in its formative years. They have branched out into the street. They have shown they can punish civilians, family members of prison inmates who may think of coming forward to testify against their brothers. Also, they gain a certain amount of stature, though dubious, by having the feds come after them under RICO.
They may even be sanctioned by the Aryan Brotherhood, something that would never have been done earlier. Also, during their past reign, there were few Hispanic inmates in Nevada’s prisons. Today there are many. The possibility exists that the AWs and the Surenos may form a working agreement together, much as the AB and the Mexican Mafia have done for decades in California. A merger between these two Nevada prison groups is plausible. In California, the MM and the blacks continue to wage war against each other. This has spread to Nevada, though not yet to the extent it has in Cali. Though it may be on the Nevada horizon.
BV
Fig. 1 The bolts and horns of the Aryan Warriors.
Fig. 2 The bolts and horns of the Aryan Warriors covered up.
