Prosecutors target Aryan prison gang

TULSA — Five inmates named in a federal racketeering indictment that was unsealed this week are already serving life sentences in state prisons, records show.

Also, prosecutors on Thursday said indictments unsealed this week targets some members of the Universal Aryan Brotherhood's top echelon, known as the Main Council.

The five are among 18 individuals accused by a federal grand jury of being members or associates of the violent prison-based, white supremacist gang.

The indictments outline a long list of crimes dating back to 2005 that were allegedly committed on behalf of the gang, including at least nine murders, kidnappings, maiming and drug conspiracy.

This marks the second time in four years that federal prosecutors in Tulsa have brought racketeering charges against gang members, in a continuing investigation nicknamed “Operation Thunderbolt,” a reference to “SS” Nazi lightning bolts tattooed on the necks of members.

And just like the last time, prosecutors said the gang members used cellphones smuggled inside the prisons to conduct business.

“Contraband cellphones are a problem in prisons throughout America and especially in Oklahoma,” said Trent Shores, U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Oklahoma.

A Tulsa World investigation published in May found that drug rings run by inmates using smuggled cellphones were on the rise, despite efforts to thwart their use.

An Oklahoma Department of Corrections spokesman acknowledged the difficulty the agency has in keeping cellphones out of prisoner's hands.

“In Oklahoma and across the country, we've repeatedly seen what happens when inmates have access to contraband cellphones,” DOC spokesman Matt Elliott said.

Prosecutors, meanwhile, said the indictments this week targets some members of the gang's top echelon, known as the Main Council.

“A number of people who have been indicted have been on the Main Council, are on the Main Council or at a minimum had a lot of influence in what happened with the UAB,” said Assistant U.S. Attorney Dennis A. Fries.

“I don't want to go into any evidence in the case and talk about specifics, who did what, just suffice it to say that we have indicted members of the Main Council, Fries said.

Federal prosecutors said they believe the multi-count indictment unsealed Wednesday will disrupt and eventually dismantle the gang.

Those indicted already serving life prison sentences are:

— Mathew D. Abrego is serving a life sentence since 2008 for seconddegree murder out of Tulsa County, in addition to convictions of a felon carrying a firearm and obstructing an officer.

Abrego, who turns 34-years-old Friday, was convicted by a jury in the 2007 beating death of Kris Alexander Simmons, 26, at a Tulsa apartment.

— Dustin T. Baker, 30, is serving four life sentences for murder, kidnapping, robbery and a felon in possession of a firearm.

Baker pleaded guilty in 2018 to the the October 2017 fatal shooting of Jason Harris, 38, whose body was found in a vehicle on U.S. 169.

— Johnny R. Jameson, 36, is serving a life without parole sentence for a 2001 first-degree murder conviction out of Grady County.

— Robert W. Zeidler, 45, is serving a life without parole sentence after being convicted in 1998 for first-degree murder out of McClain County.

— James C. Taylor, 52, is serving a life sentence for the 2001 shooting death of Pawnee County Sheriff Dwight Woodrell Jr.