68 charged in ‘Peckerwoods’ gang case linked to Aryan Brotherhood

Federal prosecutors on Wednesday charged 68 alleged members and associates of the Peckerwoods, alleging the white supremacist gang sold drugs and committed fraud in the San Fernando Valley under the auspices of jailed members of the Aryan Brotherhood.

1

2

1. The letters SFV for the Peckerwoods gang mean “San Fernando Valley” and the acronym for “Searching for Victims,” ​​federal prosecutors allege. (U.S. Attorney’s Office, Central District of California) 2. Federal prosecutors added a photo of an alleged Peckerwoods gang member with a gun in a sweeping indictment announced Wednesday. (U.S. Attorney’s Office, Central District of California)

Twelve alleged Peckerwood members are charged with racketeering, while another 56 suspects are charged with conspiracy to distribute drugs.

The Peckerwoods, who took their name from a derogatory term for white inmates in California’s prison system, embraced Nazi iconography and exchanged racist comments in a private Facebook group, according to an indictment unsealed Wednesday.

During the height of protests following the killing of George Floyd in 2020, the complaint said, a member of the Facebook group wrote: “I wish all blacks and all police officers would just all kill each other. Only our side of the daycare center! If that’s all there is left in the world, that would be great.”

A photo entered into evidence by prosecutors allegedly shows an image sent by one Peckerwoods gang member to another depicting $20,000 in cash-generated drug trafficking.

(US Attorney)

But according to the indictment, the Peckerwoods’ main concern was making money — by selling methamphetamine, heroin and fentanyl, prosecutors say. They are also accused of more sophisticated crimes such as identity theft and bank fraud, and some Peckerwoods have robbed drug dealers and stolen merchandise during smash-and-grab robberies, the indictment said.

Prosecutors allege that members of the Aryan Brotherhood, the dominant white gang in California’s prison system, collected a “tax,” or a cut of proceeds. Two alleged members of the Aryan Brotherhood were charged in the indictment: Paul John Pichie, aka “Sinister,” and Michael “Suspect” Vitanza, both of whom are charged with conspiracy to traffic in drugs.

Vitanza once shared a prison cell with Danny Troxell, who was described during a recent racketeering trial as a member of the Aryan Brotherhood’s three-member ruling “committee.” A witness at the trial testified that Vitanza was “Danny T’s right hand man.”

In a phone conversation secretly recorded by authorities, Vitanza allegedly told a female associate that he was the “youngest member of the Aryan Brotherhood.”

“The Peckerwoods’ violent white supremacist ideology and widespread criminal activity pose a serious threat to our community,” said U.S. Atty. Martín Estrada said in a statement. “By allegedly involved in everything from drug trafficking to gun crimes, identity theft and COVID fraud, and through their alliance with a neo-Nazi prison gang, the Peckerwoods are a destructive force.”

The indictment alleges that Vitanza and other defendants communicated with inmates via smuggled cellphones. The indictment lists dozens of unnamed co-conspirators who have not been charged.

The case against the Peckerwoods follows similar charges against the Aryan Brotherhood in Sacramento and Fresno. In those cases, authorities have charged jailed leaders of the organization with orchestrating murders both inside and outside California’s prison system.

Prosecutors convinced a jury this year to convict Troxell and two co-defendants of murder in aid of racketeering. But their stated goal of transferring the defendants, who were already serving life sentences in state custody, to tougher federal prisons has stalled after the Federal Bureau of Prisons’ refusal to accept the California inmates.

An Aryan Brotherhood member who pleaded guilty to murder in aid of racketeering in that case is now seeking to withdraw his plea, saying he only signed it because he was assured he would spend the rest of his life in a federal organization would spend – and not in California. – prison.