Eight alleged members of the white supremacist Aryan Circle prison gang have been arrested and indicted for their alleged roles in the 2016 murder of a fellow gang member.
The indictment, unsealed Tuesday, charges seven members with being accessories after the fact in the slaying of Clifton Hallmark in 2016, reported the Associated Press.
A separate indictment, also unsealed Tuesday, shows that Jeremy Wade Jordan, 38, of Orange, Texas, pleaded guilty on March 2 to offenses including "violent crimes in aid of racketeering" in connection with the murder of Hallmark in Evangeline Parish.
The seven other men are accused of helping Jordan "in order to hinder and prevent his apprehension, trial and punishment."
According to Jordan's indictment, which was returned by a federal grand jury on December 14, he and the others participated in Hallmark's killing "for the purpose of gaining entrance to and maintaining and increasing position in" the Aryan Circle.
Hallmark, 51, was shot in the head during an argument on July 1, 2016, according to local media reports.
The Aryan Circle prison gang is described by the federal government as a "powerful race-based, multi-state organization" operating in and out of state and federal prisons in Texas, Louisiana and elsewhere in the United States.
It was formed inside the Texas prison system in the mid-1980s, and spread into rural and suburban communities in that state, Louisiana and Missouri.
Gang members often have elaborate tattoos featuring swastikas and other racist symbols.
According to Tuesday's indictment, as cited by KATC, the gang imposes discipline among members and associates through murder, attempted murder, assault, robbery and threats against those who violate the rules or pose a threat to the organization. Members are required to follow the orders of higher-ranking members without question.
The seven people indicted on the accessory charge are: David Wayne "Big Dave" Williams, 36, of Sulphur, Louisiana; Christina Marie Williams, 38, of Sulphur; Brian Elliot "Sneak" Granger, 36, of Beaumont, Texas; Leland Edward Hamm, 43, of Tulsa, Oklahoma; Richard Alan Smith, 47, of Little Rock, Arkansas; Michael Paul Auxilien, 34, of Mamou, Louisiana; and Stone Haynes, 49, of Beaumont, Texas.
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