Leaders of the white nationalist Aryan Brotherhood gang were charged with directing killings and multistate drug smuggling from Pelican Bay State Prison in California

A total of 16 Aryan Brotherhood prison gang members were charged Thursday by feds with killings and drug smuggling

The charges detail five murders of people who went against the gang and accuse an attorney of helping smuggle drugs and cellphones into the jail

The inmates charged are Daniel “Danny” Troxell, Ronald “Renegade” Yandell, William Sylvester and Kevin McNamara, who are long-time gang members

Despite its racist philosophy, the Aryan Brotherhood had a drug smuggling partnership with the Mexican Mafia, prosecutors said

[Top L-R], Kevin McNamara and William Sylvester. [Bottom L-R]  Daniel Troxell and Ronald Yandell. The four are among the 16 Aryan Brotherhood prison gang members who were charged Thursday by feds with killings and drug smuggling

Leaders of the Aryan Brotherhood prison gang were charged Thursday with directing killings and drug smuggling from within California’s most secure prisons, U.S. prosecutors said.

Federal officials in Sacramento indicted more than a dozen members and affiliates of the Aryan Brotherhood prison gang on Thursday, alleging that top officials within the organization used smuggled phones to order murders and orchestrate a multistate drug trafficking operation from their cells.

The charges detail five slayings and accuse an attorney of helping smuggle drugs and cellphones to aid the white supremacist gang.
A total of 16 Aryan Brotherhood members and associates are accused of running the criminal enterprise using contraband cellphones, encrypted chats, text messages, multimedia messages and email.
Among them are nine current inmates charged with racketeering, conspiracy and other charges, and seven people outside prison accused of assisting the gang in activities in Las Vegas and as far east as Missouri and South Dakota. 

Authorities say that two of the inmates, Ronald Yandell, 56, and Daniel “Danny” Troxell, 66, are well-known members of the Aryan Brotherhood Commission, a three-man council that runs the white supremacist organization.
The complaint also charges inmates William Sylvester, 51; Travis Burhop, 46; Brant Daniel, 44; Donald Mazza, 48, Pat Brady, 48; Michael Torres, 55; and Jason Corbett, 47.
When the investigation began, Yandell, Troxell, Sylvester, Burhop, Torres and Corbett were all serving life sentences for murder.
Five other individuals were also arrested as part of the investigation and authorities are actively searching for two others.
Those arrested were Samuel Keeton, 40; Jeanna Quesenberry, 52; Kristen Demar, 44; Justin Petty, 37; and attorney Kevin Macnamara, 39, of La Palma.
Warrants have been issued for the arrests of Kathleen Nolan, 64; and Matthew Hall, 50.

The white supremacist gang were inmates at State Prison near Crescent City, California, one of the state’s most secure prisons, (pictured)

Prosecutors say a longtime leader of a rival black gang was killed just days after he was released from decades of solitary confinement.
Despite its racist philosophy, the Aryan Brotherhood had a drug smuggling partnership with the Mexican Mafia, prosecutors said.
Sacramento-based U.S. attorney McGregor Scott called the charges ‘a significant blow to the leadership of a violent criminal enterprise run from inside California prisons.’
‘The charges allege multiple murders of those who run afoul of the gang, as well as an active drug trafficking operation that spans multiple counties and states,’ he said in a statement.
Daniel “Danny” Troxell who is serving a life sentence is known for writing a federal complaint in 2009 that eventually led California to curb the use of solitary confinement.
Prosecutors say he formed an unusual cease-fire alliance with leaders of other blood-rival gangs to promote the complaint.
Black Guerilla Family leader Hugo Pinell, a killer with ties to the 1960s and 1970s black revolutionary movement, was among those released after 45 years in isolation, authorities said.

Two Aryan Brotherhood associates have been accused of killing 71-year-old Hugo Pinell, [photo], days after he was moved in 2015 to a Sacramento-area prison

They say two Aryan Brotherhood associates killed the 71-year-old Pinell days after he was moved in 2015 to a Sacramento-area prison.
Pinell, nicknamed “Yogi Bear,” became infamous as one of the San Quentin 6, helping to slit the throat of prison guards during a failed 1971 escape attempt that left six dead.
His slaying four years ago triggered a riot that sent 11 prisoners to hospitals with stab wounds.
Troxell and Pinell long denied being gang members. It wasn’t immediately clear if any defendants had legal representation for the counts unveiled Thursday.
The charges also allege that cellmates Ronald “Renegade” Yandell and William Sylvester used smuggled cellphones to direct heroin and methamphetamine trafficking operations in California. 

One of the housing units inside Pelican Bay State Prison near Crescent City, Calif., on Aug. 27, 2011

Sacramento-based U.S. attorney McGregor Scott called the charges a significant blow to the leadership of a violent criminal enterprise run from inside California prisons.
Yandell, serving a life sentence for a double murder, is described as one of the gang’s three-member leadership commission, as is Troxell.
La Palma attorney Kevin Macnamara is charged with trying to smuggle methamphetamine, tobacco and cellphones.
Guards reported finding three phones, plastic wrappers and power cables concealed in the seat cushion of Macnamara’s wheelchair.
Authorities have been trying to bring down the Aryan Brotherhood – also known as The Brand – for decades.
The gang was formed by white inmates in the mid-1960s and has a policy of “blood in, blood out,” holding that full members must kill to gain entry and can only leave when they die, though authorities said there are exceptions.
Members who don’t kill when ordered to do so risk being slain themselves.