More Than A Dozen Charged In Large-Scale Conspiracy Involving Corpus Christi, Texas Aryan Brotherhood Ring
CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas - A total of 14 Corpus Christi residents are now in custody and face up to life in prison for their alleged roles related to the activities of the Aryan Brotherhood of (ABT), announced DEA Houston Division Special Agent-in-Charge Will Glaspy and Acting U.S. Attorney Abe Martinez.
The charges include conspiracy to participate in racketeering activity involving the ABT, violent crimes in aid of racketeering activity, and conspiracy to possess with the intent to distribute methamphetamine.
A federal grand jury returned the indictment on November 29, 2017 against: James Randall Ross aka Silver, 45; David Wayne Frost aka Spider, 47; Michael Lee Craig aka Rooster, 44; Mark Clairborne Pennington aka Shiloh, 59; Brian Russell Campbell aka Iceman aka Loyalty, 35; Johnny Glenn Voiles aka Panhead, 47; Jimmy Curtis Mullenax III aka Curt, 40; Kenneth Brandenburh aka K-Dog, 44; Matthew Jay Thompson aka Pie Face; 33, Pedro Campos aka Pete, 59; Abby Telge, 28; Johnny Hagensick, 49; Randy Stasney, 60; and Allen Saunders, 35.
The indictment against these 14 individuals was unsealed today.
Ross made his initial appearance this morning, at which time he was ordered detained pending trial set for January 8, 2018. With the exception of Voiles, who is not as yet in custody, the remaining defendants are expected to make their initial appearances before U.S. Magistrate Judge B. Janice Ellington at 2:00 p.m. today. Voiles is believed to be in the Houston area. Anyone with information about his whereabouts is asked to contact Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security (HSI) at 1-866-347-2423.
The indictment charges Ross, Frost, Craig, Pennington, Campbell and Voiles in with conspiracy to participate in racketeering activity involving ABT activities between 1995 and November 2017. The indictment alleges they and others known and unknown were members and associates of the ABT, a criminal organization whose members and associates engaged in the illegal trafficking of controlled substances, extortion, murder, attempted murder, assault with a dangerous weapon and other acts of violence and intimidation. They allegedly operated throughout Texas, including the Corpus Christi Division of the Southern District of Texas and elsewhere. In addition, one of the purposes of the criminal enterprise was allegedly to keep victims in fear of the enterprise and in fear of its leaders, members and associates through threats of violence and actual violence.
Ross, Frost, and Craig are also charged with violent crimes in aid of racketeering activity in September 2015.
All 14 arrested today are charged with conspiracy to possess with the intent to distribute methamphetamine between July 2012 to November 2017.
All face up to life in prison. The racketeering charges also carry a possible $250,000 maximum fine, while the drug trafficking conviction carries a possible maximum $10 million fine upon conviction.
DEA; Homeland Security Investigations; The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco Firearms and Explosives;; Texas Department of Public Safety; Nueces County Sheriff’s Office; Corpus Christi Police Department and the U.S. Marshals Service conducted the investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Lance Watt and Julie K. Hampton are prosecuting the case.
An indictment is a formal accusation of criminal conduct, not evidence.
A defendant is presumed innocent unless convicted through due process of law.
