Woman indicted in aiding escape

The girlfriend of Wesley Gullett, president of a Russellville-based white supremacist group, has been indicted alongside him and another federal defendant on accusations of helping them escape from jail.

Kennan Gililland, 27, is facing two charges of aiding and assisting in an escape, one for helping Gullett, 30, of Plainview and another for helping Christopher Sanderson, 34, of Jacksonville. She and the men, who each face an escape charge, were jointly indicted Aug. 8 by a federal grand jury in Little Rock. They are tentatively scheduled for a joint jury trial beginning Sept. 16.

Gullett and Sanderson were both federal prisoners being housed at the Jefferson County Jail in Pine Bluff in unrelated cases when jailers noticed early on the morning of July 31 that they escaped.

In an affidavit filed in support of a criminal complaint authorizing Gililland’s arrest until the next meeting of the grand jury, U.S. Deputy Marshal Kevin Sanders wrote on July 31, the day the marshals were alerted of the escape, FBI agents interviewed Gililland. She told them she picked Gullett up from the jail and drove him about 130 miles to Pope County, dropping him off north of Dover. She also told the agent she provided her boyfriend with some food and supplies, and he was hiding in the woods outside Dover, according to the affidavit.

On Aug. 1, the chief of the Dover Marshals office was driving around the Pope County town just before lunchtime when he passed Gullett. He said he turned his car around, stepped out with his gun raised and arrested Gullett without any difficulty.

Later that evening, U.S. marshals and Arkansas State Police searched for Sanderson in the Ozark National Forest near Pelsor, a Pope County community about 30 miles north of Dover. They said Sanderson yelled out from the woods to alert authorities he was ready to be picked up, telling them, “I’m done.” He was extremely dehydrated and had to be taken to a hospital for treatment, Sanders said.

On Aug. 5, Sanderson appeared before U.S. Magistrate Judge Jerome Kearney for his initial appearance on the escape charge.

Federal prosecutors say Gullett, is the president of The New Aryan Empire. He’s charged alongside 16 others with crimes under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organization Act, known as RICO, and the Violent Crimes in Aid of Racketeering statute, called VICAR. His charges include attempted murder in aid of racketeering and assault with a dangerous weapon in aid of racketeering.

Gullett was first indicted in October 2017 in a methamphetamine conspiracy, but the indictment was superseded Feb. 5 to add other defendants and racketeering charges.

Sanderson was indicted Feb. 7 on charges of being a felon in possession of a firearm and possessing a firearm in furtherance of drug trafficking, as well as possessing with the intent to distribute methamphetamine.

Jefferson County Sheriff Lafayette Woods Jr. said Gullett and Sanderson used bundles of clothing beneath their blankets in their cell to give the appearance they were asleep in their beds, and then walked along the roof of the building past the fence to escape. The men disappeared between 8:30 p.m. July 29 and early July 31, though the exact time of their escape isn’t known. Two jailers at the facility have since been fired.