Three Aryan Brotherhood Members Convicted at Trial: Prison-Ordered Murders Proven
On February 18, 2025, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of California announced that three members of the Aryan Brotherhood prison gang were convicted by a federal jury at trial in federal court in Fresno, a city in Fresno County, California. Francis Clement, 58, was found guilty of racketeering (RICO) conspiracy and five separate counts of murder in aid of racketeering; Kenneth Johnson, 63, was found guilty of RICO conspiracy and two counts of murder in aid of racketeering; and John Stinson, 70, was found guilty of one count of RICO conspiracy. The three were scheduled to be sentenced on May 19, 2025.
Clement's five murder counts covered five victims: Allan Roshanski, Ruslan Magomedgadzhiev, Michael Brizendine, James Yagle, and Ronnie Ennis. The Justice Department said each of those murders was committed while Clement was in state prison, on his orders. Johnson's two murder counts covered Roshanski and Magomedgadzhiev.
According to court documents and evidence presented at trial, between 2016 and 2023, Aryan Brotherhood members and associates engaged in racketeering activity including murder, conspiracy to murder, fraud, robbery, and drug trafficking. Clement and Johnson, who both held leadership roles in the gang, directed crimes committed by Aryan Brotherhood members both inside and outside of prison using cellphones that had been smuggled into prison. Because of his rank in the gang, Clement received a cut from the illegal drug sales and fraud schemes the Aryan Brotherhood committed. According to trial testimony, the Aryan Brotherhood regularly smuggled drugs, including methamphetamine, into prisons throughout the California prison system, which defendants and other gang members then sold to inmates.
It was proven at trial that in October 2020, Johnson and Clement together ordered the murder of Roshanski, during the execution of which Magomedgadzhiev was also killed. Johnson and Clement also ordered the murder of Brandon Lowery, who was subsequently killed.
It was further proven at trial that in February 2022, Clement ordered the murder of Michael Brizendine. The following month, in March 2022, Clement ordered the murders of Ronnie Ennis and James Yagle. For each murder, the Justice Department said, the killings were ordered because the defendants believed the victims either violated gang rules or owed the gang money.
According to court documents and evidence presented at trial, Stinson was a high-ranking leader of the Aryan Brotherhood and had substantial authority over the enterprise, including sponsoring multiple individuals for membership, resolving disputes among members, and approving the murder of current and former members. During the investigation, Stinson used a contraband cellphone within his prison cell to conduct business on behalf of the Aryan Brotherhood, and the jury heard some of those communications through court-authorized wiretapped conversations. Evidence was also presented that Stinson engaged in drug trafficking and, given his position within the gang, received a cut of illegal drug sales that took place in prison and out on the street.
The indictment in this case charged 11 defendants with RICO conspiracy and other crimes. The case was the product of an extensive investigation by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), with assistance from the Office of Correctional Safety of the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, the U.S. Marshals Service, the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department, the Pomona Police Department, the Torrance Police Department, the San Diego Police Department, the San Diego County Sheriff's Department, the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office, and the Kern County District Attorney's Office. The case was investigated under the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) program.
(Source: U.S. Department of Justice)
Source: U.S. Department of Justice
Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：位于弗雷斯诺的罗伯特·E·科伊尔美国联邦法院大楼，本案在该院经陪审团审判定罪（照片：Justin Loyear／Cadking3，CC BY-SA 3.0，Wikimedia Commons）。 / Photo: The Robert E. Coyle United States Courthouse in Fresno, where the defendants were convicted at trial (photo: Justin Loyear/Cadking3, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons).
