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Feds: Aryan Brotherhood defendants caught with 43 prison cellphones in recent years

Contra Costa Times - 10/1/2019

Oct. 1--SACRAMENTO -- Court records recently filed by federal prosecutors suggest that members of dangerous prison gangs across California are acquiring contraband cellphones with ease.

Nine members and associates of the Aryan Brotherhood in particular, along with one member of the Mexican Mafia, have been busted with a total of 43 prison cellphones, most of which were recovered over the past three years, according to the records. One of them, Ronald Dean Yandell, 57, an alleged member of the Aryan Brotherhood's three-man leadership commission, was caught with 10 cellphones from 2016-19, according to the records.

The 10 state prison inmates in question all have one thing in common: they were all charged with racketeering and other offenses in June, as part of a massive federal law enforcement operation targeting the Aryan Brotherhood in California. More than two dozen Aryan Brotherhood members and associates have been charged in four cases, with crimes that include drug sales, five prison murders, and four murder plots.

The inmates -- Yandell, Daniel Troxell, William Sylvester, Travis Burhop, Brant Daniel, Donald Mazza, Pat Brady, Jason Corbett, Samuel Keeton, and Michael Torres -- have all been singled out as "high risk" defendants, and prosecutors are employing rare legal tactics to limit their movements as the case slowly makes its way to trial. For instance, the U.S. Attorney's office of California'sEastern District filed a motion this month that would keep the defendants from personally appearing in court during "non-critical" hearings, and instead videoconference in from their cells.

All the defendants are being housed at the Sacramento County Jail save for Daniel and Torres, who are at California State Prison Sacramento, known as New Folsom.

The so-called "high-risk" defendants' histories go back decades, and include just about just about every serious rule violation an inmate can commit: there are allegations of arson, cell flooding, "promotion of gang activity," sharing of contraband letters known as "kites," drug smuggling, cellphone possession, manufacturing shanks, fistfights, and several prison murders. Also included are minor offenses, like tattooing, or failure to complete work assignments.

Defense attorneys in the case, meanwhile, are arguing for the opposite, asserting in motions that the defendants have been placed in such restrictive environments that it limits their ability to effectively fight the charges. They've asked for in-person attorney/client visits, improved access to the law library, and even limited internet use, in a series of recent legal motions that have yet to be heard.

"Simply put, the current conditions obstruct (defendants') Sixth Amendment right to counsel, First Amendment right of access to the courts, and Eighth Amendment right to procedures which guarantee heightened reliability in capital proceedings," defense attorneys argued in one joint motion signed on by nine of 16 defendants in the main Aryan Brotherhood case.

This type of legal tug-of-war is typical in a criminal case. What's unusual is the prosecution's unwillingness to give any ground; the U.S. Attorney's office recently successfully fought a motion to let Corbett wear tennis shoes, which Corbett's attorneys argued were medically necessary due to their client's severe foot injuries that leave him in constant pain.

But prosecutors argue that the defendants' own conduct warrants the unorthodox restrictions. In a September legal motion, they cited several disciplinary issues that arose since the indictment was filed. Many of them amount to typical jailhouse shenanigans, like tearing clothes to make fishing lines to pass notes.

Prosecutors also noted that Yandell's gave guards a list of demands on his first day at the jail, including: a microwave, nine hours of daily recreation room time, hot water, bed sheets and pillows, three hot meals a day, paid job assignments, self-help classes, and an ice machine.

"Moreover, even during their brief stay in the Sacramento County Jail thus far, the eight High-Risk Defendants who are housed there already have been found creating ropes and fishing lines, discussing having someone smuggle in cellphones, possessing a cipher for coded communications, writing handwritten notes expressing disdain for law enforcement, the federal government, and this prosecution, and asking numerous detailed questions about the locks and about transportation to and from the courthouse as well as outside hospital visits," assistant U.S. Attorney Jason Hitt wrote in the motion.

Phone smuggling channels

In recent years, an estimated tens of thousands of phones have found their way into California prisons. It is assumed that they are mostly smuggled into prisons by visitors and staff, who can make thousands of dollars per phone.

The June complaint against 16 alleged Aryan Brotherhood members and associates describes two people allegedly working with the gang to smuggle in numerous cellphones and other contraband: an attorney named Kevin McNamara, 39, and a man named Justin "Rune" Petty, 38, who worked at Golden State Oversight, a company that ships monthly care packages to people incarcerated in state prison.

According to the complaint, Yandell was caught on a wiretapped prison cellphone talking about both smuggling schemes, and arranging for shipments of phones and drugs. Prosecutors say he believed he could use McNamara's status as a lawyer to circumvent security measures in New Folsom Prison, where he was housed started in late 2015 after a 10-year stay in a Pelican Bay solitary confinement module.

According to the complaint, McNamara, who is a paraplegic and confined to a wheelchair, listed Kristen Demar -- the wife of Aryan Brotherhood member and Calipatria State Prison inmate Charles "Boots" Demar -- as his paralegal, and went to visit Sylvester in New Folsom Prison in August 2016. Prison officials, who were wise to the scheme at this point, placed an audio-free camera in the meeting room and caught what appeared to be Demar passing something to Sylvester.

After the visit, prison guards searched Sylvester and found four phones, 174 grams of tobacco, and 20 grams of meth. Yandell was then caught on wiretapped conversations telling Demar that if she was questioned to say the Aryan Brotherhood had threatened to murder her husband if she didn't comply, and to blame Yandell for the smuggling, as he was already serving a life sentence, according to the complaint.

Later, though, Yandell and others grew paranoid that McNamara was working for law enforcement and had set them up, the complaint says.

That same month, Yandell allegedly coordinated with Petty to send contraband concealed in cereal, brownies, and other food items. Petty reportedly told Yandell he was willing to do this, but wanted to make sure his cover wouldn't be blown, as his job was his primary source of income for his family.

Thanks to the wiretap, authorities intercepted the package. It contained two black USB charging cables, six grinding discs, seven lighters, one cellphone battery, seven small screwdrivers, two bluetooth earpieces, 10 small metal saw places, about an ounce of meth and 20 grams of heroin.

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(c)2019 the Contra Costa Times (Walnut Creek, Calif.)

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