Prison gang members are under indictment

HOUSTON — Twenty-four people, including alleged members of a white supremacist prison gang, have been indicted in federal courts in Texas, Kentucky and Mississippi on charges related to shootings, stabbings and killings, authorities said.

Indictments unsealed Wednesday allege members of the Aryan Circle committed various crimes in at least 11 states, including Texas, Arkansas, New Jersey and Pennsylvania.

The defendants face charges of racketeering conspiracy, violent crimes in the aid of racketeering, drug conspiracy and unlawful firearms trafficking. All but one is in custody. The gang is a violent, racebased organization that was started in the mid-1980s within the Texas state prison system.

In recent years, the Aryan Circle’s influence has grown beyond prisons to rural and suburban areas in various states, prosecutors said.

According to one of the three indictments in federal court in the Eastern District of Texas, alleged gang members are accused of selling illegal drugs and high-powered weapons, including AR-15 rifles, to fund the organization’s illegal activities.