Aryan Brotherhood members sentenced to life in prison

ap on Daily Comet ^ | 11/21/06 | Gillian Flaccus - ap

[NormsRevenge]

A federal judge sentenced three suspected leaders of the violent Aryan Brotherhood prison gang to life terms Tuesday, saying the sentences were the only just response to three decades of orchestrated murders and attempted murders in some of the nation's toughest penitentiaries.

Barry "The Baron" Mills, 58, was sentenced to four consecutive life terms without possibility of parole, a sentence automatically imposed after a jury deadlocked earlier this year on the death penalty. Tyler "The Hulk" Bingham, 59, also escaped the death penalty but received three consecutive life terms without possibility of parole.

A third defendant, Edgar "The Snail" Hevle, was sentenced to three consecutive life terms and will likely die in prison. He had not been eligible for the death penalty.

The men showed no reaction as the verdicts were announced, but they hugged their attorneys and shook the hands of other defense attorneys before being escorted out by federal marshals.

U.S. District Judge David O. Carter said the sentences were appropriate for crimes "spanning well over 30 years of murder and organizational murder."

"It's almost inconceivable and the duration of time is almost inconceivable," Carter said of the string of murders, attempted murders and other crimes before handing down the sentence.

The defendants have 10 days to file appeals with the 9th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals.

Defense attorneys said they were disappointed, but not surprised, with the sentences.

"This was inevitable," said Bernard Rosen, Hevle's co-counsel. "We've got some excellent legal arguments on appeal, so it ain't over yet."

Among other things, the jury convicted Mills and Bingham for inciting a race riot at a prison in Lewisburg, Pa., in 1997 that resulted in the deaths of black inmates Frank Joyner and Abdul Salaam, alleged members of the rival DC Blacks prison gang. Those killings made Mills and Bingham eligible for the death penalty under the statute of Violent Crime in Aid of Racketeering.

Hevle, 55, and a fourth defendant, Christopher Overton Gibson, were convicted of conspiring to murder the black inmates. Gibson, 47, is recuperating from back surgery and was not sentenced Tuesday. He faces a sentence of 20 years to life in prison.

Mills, Bingham and Hevle were also convicted of a count of murder for the killing of Arva Lee Ray, a prisoner slain at the Lompoc, Calif., penitentiary in 1989. Gibson was not charged with that count.

Prosecutors spent six years building their case against suspected members of the Aryan Brotherhood in an effort to dismantle the violent white supremacist organization accused of ordering hits and running drug rings, gambling rings and protection rackets from behind bars.

On Friday, prosecutors dropped a bid to place severe lifestyle restrictions on the men. They had originally asked Carter to prohibit visits, letters and phone calls to the convicts from anyone but their attorneys and keep writing tools, paper and previously viewed reading material out of their cells.

Similar bans have been imposed only 11 times in the history of the federal prison system. Inmates Zacarias Moussaoui, the suspected "20th hijacker" in the Sept. 11 World Trade Center attack, and convicted Unabomber Ted Kaczynski are among those with restrictions on their prison contacts.

Instead, Assistant U.S. Attorney Stephen Wolfe said in court papers that the government would likely pursue the restrictions "administratively," meaning they would be imposed by U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales without a court hearing or judge's order.

On Tuesday, Carter said he was worried that Gonzales would impose the restrictions without ensuring that the Bureau of Prisons could enforce them. He read an Associated Press article aloud in court citing the shortage of guards and deteriorating conditions at the maximum-security prison in Florence, Colo., where the men will likely serve their sentences.

"I can only pray that the attorney general will provide the resources to carry out these conditions," Carter said, adding that it was the only way to prevent "further inmates and members of the Bureau of Prisons staff (from being) hurt and, God forbid, killed."

Carter said he would have imposed the restrictions against Mills and cited testimony about threats Mills made to prison staff and an attempt to smuggle cyanide into a federal prison in Marion, Ill., to poison the guards.

Rosen, Hevle's attorney, said having Gonzales order the restrictions instead of a judge will make it harder to appeal them.

Inmates, unaided by their attorneys, must exhaust a series of appeals to prison officials before applying for a hearing before the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals in Denver. That hearing is not guaranteed, he said.

[NormsRevenge]

This artist rendering shows four alleged leaders of the Aryan Brotherhood: at front left, Tyler Davis 'The Hulk' Bingham, front right, Barry 'The Baron' Mills, rear left, Christopher Overton Gibson and rear right, Edger 'The Snail' Hevle, during opening statements of their conspiracy and racketeering trial Tuesday, March 14, 2006, at the federal courthouse in Santa Ana, Calif. (AP Photo/Bill Robles)

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An undated booking photo of Tyler Bingham, a top lieutenant of the Aryan Brotherhood. Bingham, who was found guilty in July of murder and other charges, was sentenced on November 21, 2006 to multiple life terms. (File/Reuters)

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An undated booking photo of Barry Mills, chief of the Aryan Brotherhood. Mills, who was found guilty in July of murder and other charges, was sentenced on November 21, 2006 to multiple life terms. (Files/Reuters)

[csvset]

I wonder what's up with the shades? I find it odd since it's a booking photo.

[Slings and Arrows]

Behold the Master Race.

[Blackirish]

Theses guys are looking kinda old to hold up there end in the joint....don't think they will die of old age.

[calcowgirl]

Edgar "The Snail" Hevle:

[doc1019]

“hold up there end” Even the most deprived criminal has his standards!

[Larry Lucido]

[Larry Lucido]

Colin O'Brien ping

[Hegemony Cricket]

Well, that's a good start. Anyone who hates, attacks, and kills based solely on race has no place in civilized society...

[Question_Assumptions]

Years ago, on the old Morton Downey, Jr. show, he had on women who were "having babies for the white race". My response was, "Do the white race a favor and stop having babies." I guess being white is the only thing they have that they think they can be proud of, which is pretty sad.

[denydenydeny]

the jury convicted Mills and Bingham for inciting a race riot at a prison in Lewisburg, Pa., in 1997 that resulted in the deaths of black inmates Frank Joyner and Abdul Salaam, alleged members of the rival DC Blacks prison gang. Those killings made Mills and Bingham eligible for the death penalty under the statute of Violent Crime in Aid of Racketeering.

I still want to know why Al "Freddy's Fashion Mart" Sharpton is still walking around free today.

[GoldCountryRedneck]

I still want to know why Al "Freddy's Fashion Mart" Sharpton is still walking around free today.

And/or....the rev-er-and Jesse "The Shakedown" Jackson.

[pandoraou812]

Hmmm those guys aren't too pleasing to look at. Wouldn't want to run into them anywhere.

[perfect stranger]

Another news piece about this case

Bringing Down the Brotherhood
Inside the feds’ war on the country’s deadliest prison gang: 16 murders, 21 death-penalty cases, and snitches galore.
By Alan Prendergast
Article Published May 5, 2005

[perfect stranger]

LOL

[Figment]

So, these sob's are free to continue their criminal enterprises at taxpayer expense in our most secure prisons. There is a huge problem here. These folks don't need to be breathing.Is there any point in writing your representative? Your senators? What the hell is going on here?

[WLR]

The Story reeks..

Prisons are violent racist places. To survive the individuals inside either clan up or they die..

If the below numbers are correct these White bad guys may well have been doing what they concluded they had to do to prevent themselves from being killed by non-white bad guys. A reality not even mentioned in the story.

http://www.zmag.org/content/showarticle.cfm?ItemID=4471

The incarceration rate for African-Americans is 1,815 per 100,000 compared to 609 per 100, 000 for Latino-Americans, 99 per 100,000 for Asian-Americans, and 235 per 100, 000 for American whites. For black adult males the incarceration rate is a remarkable 4, 484 per 100,000, compared 1, 668 per 100,000 for Hispanic males and 1,318 per 100,000 for white males. Roughly one in ten of the world's prisoners is an African-American male. In mid-year 1999, 11 percent of Black US males in their 20s and early 30s were in prison and 33 percent of Black male high school dropouts were in prison or in jail.

Once again the truth is far from what the media portrays..

With 2 million people in prison civil authority is really not in charge of more than a few aspects of these prisons...
too many people behind bars too few resources and personell to manage them..

How did those aspects of the story get lost?

W

[lesser_satan]

ROTFLMAO!!!

[lesser_satan]

If the below numbers are correct these White bad guys may well have been doing what they concluded they had to do to prevent themselves from being killed by non-white bad guys.

And that would include inciting and promoting racial hatred rather than merely defending oneself against attacks motivated by it?