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U.S. prison warden: Muslim prayers led to gangs The warden of a U.S. prison holding high-risk inmates, including American Taliban fighter John Walker Lindh, insisted Thursday that he was obeying a court order to allow daily group prayer by permitting inmates to pray in pairs within their cells. Warden John Oliver told a federal judge that when the prison allowed group prayer earlier this year, Muslim inmates formed gangs and bullied other prisoners. Lindh attended the hearing by video conference from the high-security unit that houses him and about 40 other inmates, including several convicted on terror charges. A U.S....

Gang Leader Impregnates Four Female Prison Guards 13 female corrections officers, seven inmates and five others with gang ties have been charged with plotting to smuggle drugs, cellphones and other contraband into Baltimore's jail and other correctional facilities. By RUSSELL GOLDMAN April 24, 2013 Four female correction officers were impregnated by the reported leader of a Maryland prison gang, which used a network of female prison guards to help launder money, run drugs and smuggle contraband into state detention facilities, according to a federal indictment. One of the guards was twice impregnated by Tavon White, identified in court papers as...

SNIPPET: "Actually, two have been convicted by a jury for using their nightclubs to launder the proceeds of drug and weapons deals, one was acquitted of money laundering but has pled guilty to a drug trafficking charge, and one of those convicted of money laundering has now been charged with tax evasion. And that's not to mention the failure to pay state liquor taxes and fees, the unsolved murder of a one-time business partner, and various immigration-related issues. Money was transferred in to a relative and known Hizballah operative in Lebanon, and there are strong ties to the Lebanese expat...

The Yassine family of Austin, Texas is apparently quite the enterprising group. Led by Hussein “Mike” Yassine, the Yassines were quite diversified. They own 8 bars. According to law enforcement authorities they are also a one-family crime wave. They are involved in murder, money laundering, drug dealing–and they have a brother back in Lebanon who is part of Hezbollah.

SANTA ANA, Calif. - Jurors were unable to decide Friday whether to impose the death penalty on two convicted leaders of the Aryan Brotherhood prison gang, prompting a mistrial in the matter and giving the men life in prison. The same jury convicted Barry "The Baron" Mills and Tyler "The Hulk" Bingham in July. Jurors were then asked to determine whether the two should be sentenced to death or life in prison without possibility of parole. After 3 1/2 days of deliberations, they told the judge Thursday they were deadlocked, but he ordered them to return to the jury room...

SAN DIEGO – Federal prosecutors here announced the indictment Friday of a San Diego gang founder and other leaders of the Mexican Mafia prison gang on charges of running a massive crime syndicate in Southern California. Authorities said the notorious prison gang ran organized crime out of the state's highest-security prison, ordered murders, dealt drugs and demanded money from Latino street gangs, including many in San Diego, in return for protection and guidance. The local U.S. Attorney's Office is using anti-racketeering laws to go after 22 members, associates and affiliates of the prison gang. An additional 14 people were indicted...

Radical Networks in Middle East Prisons By Chris Zambelis Prisons have traditionally been breeding grounds for some of the world's most violent street gangs and organized criminal organizations. The hostile and dangerous environment of prison life inspired the creation of a diverse array of well-organized gangs and networks that thrived behind prison walls in everything from extortion, drug and weapons trafficking, smuggling, gambling and other illicit activities. In a testament to their organizational capacity and reach, many gangs spread to prisons outside of their place of origin and continue to flourish among seasoned members released into the general public. Originally,...

SANTA ANA, Calif. (AP) -- A former member of a white supremacist prison gang testified Friday that he was slipped two bullets and ordered by an alleged gang kingpin to hide them until they could be used to kill a black inmate who had assaulted the late mob leader John Gotti. Kevin Roach took the stand for a second day to testify in one of the largest capital punishment cases in U.S. history, aimed at the leadership of the Aryan Brotherhood gang. Roach said another inmate slipped him one bullet by pushing it under the door of a prison library....

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Alongside allegations such as secret messages written in urine, the opening of the Aryan Brotherhood trial includes a charge that late Mafia boss John Gotti asked the prison gang to carry out a hit. Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael Emmick told jurors in one of the largest death penalty cases in the United States that Gotti sought out the Aryan Brotherhood, also known as the Brand, in July 1996 after he was beaten by a black inmate, Walter Johnson, at the U.S. penitentiary in Marion, Illinois,