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Dozens of suspected members of the San Fernando Valley Peckerwoods, a Los Angeles-area White supremacist gang linked to the Aryan Brotherhood, have been arrested and indicted Wednesday in a federal investigation charging them with drug and weapons trafficking and committing fraud.
A federal indictment unsealed Wednesday prices 68 members with racketeering exercise that included drug trafficking – together with fentanyl – unlawful firearm possession, and COVID-19 advantages and mortgage fraud.
Federal prosecutors described the SFV Peckerwoods as a violent avenue gang that sometimes takes orders from the Aryan Brotherhood, California’s dominant prison-based White supremacist gang.
Members are recognized to make use of Nazi tattoos, graffiti and different iconography to affirm their ideology.
Federal prosecutors allege Peckerwoods members have for almost a decade used violence and the specter of violence to protect and develop the gang’s legal operations and promote a local weather of worry.
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To generate income, members trafficked fentanyl, heroin and methamphetamine to generate income.
The indictment names lead defendant Claire Patricia Haviland, 62, of Chatsworth, California, and co-defendants Brian Glenn Ekelund, 53, of Chatsworth, and Brianne Brewer, 38, of North Hollywood, California.
Federal authorities say SFV Peckerwoods gang members engaged in fraud and theft to extend income. (DOJ)
The indictment alleges these people maintained and oversaw drug stash homes the place unlawful narcotics have been saved earlier than distribution. Haviland and Ekelund allegedly mailed the medicine to clients and used purposes similar to Zelle and CashApp to ship and obtain cash.
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Members additionally generated income through robberies and monetary fraud, together with by collaborating in identification theft schemes. In a single such scheme, some members submitted phony purposes for the Paycheck Safety Program, which was designed to assist struggling companies in the course of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Lawyer Normal Merrick Garland mentioned the Justice Division had dealt a “decisive blow to the San Fernando Valley (SFV) Peckerwoods.”
Dozens of members of the Los Angeles White supremacist gang San Fernando Valley Peckerwoods are dealing with drug trafficking prices. (DOJ)
“With at this time’s prices and arrests, the Justice Division, along with our state, native, and federal companions has focused the guts of this gang’s operations, and we are going to proceed to zero in on the legal enterprises that endanger our communities,” Garland mentioned in a press release.
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The members and associates arrested Wednesday have been anticipated to be arraigned within the U.S. District Courtroom in downtown Los Angeles. Every faces as much as life in jail if convicted.
Bradford Betz is a Fox Information Digital breaking reporter masking crime, political points, and far more.
