Opening statements to begin in Aryan Brotherhood trial

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http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/state/20060314-0018-ca-aryanbrotherhood.html

12:18 a.m. March 14, 2006

SANTA ANA – Prosecutors will lay out their case Tuesday against a violent and highly organized prison gang, four years after federal agents arrested dozens of Aryan Brotherhood members in a raid designed to dismantle the notorious group.

Forty members of the Brotherhood – nicknamed the Brand – were arrested in 2002 and charged in a sweeping indictment that alleges 32 murders and attempted murders over 30 years. snip

A 140-page document alleges a web of conspiracies to murder fellow inmates who offended gang members, cheated them on drug deals, failed to comply with the orders of leaders or snitched to prison authorities. Prosecutors, who declined to be interviewed, relied on informants for much of their case. snip

Alleged gang ringleader Barry “The Baron” Mills is serving two life terms for murder after nearly decapitating an inmate in 1979. In the upcoming trial, he faces a possible death sentence for allegedly orchestrating the 1997 killings of two black inmates who were serving time for rape at a prison in Pennsylvania.