Massive takedown of Aryan Brotherhood of Texas praised in Washington

Larry "Slick" Bryan said to be the top general of the Aryan Brotherhood of Texas. He is now serving 25 years in federal prison for racketeering and other crimes. He is described as being an "old school," gang member, where a "man's word is his word." He is described by authorities as an "old school" gang member, where a "man's word is his word." less Larry "Slick" Bryan said to be the top general of the Aryan Brotherhood of Texas. He is now serving 25 years in federal prison for racketeering and other crimes. He is described as being an "old school," gang ... more Photo: Texas Department Of Criminal Jus, TDCJ Photo: Texas Department Of Criminal Jus, TDCJ Image 1 of / 83 Caption Close Massive takedown of Aryan Brotherhood of Texas praised in Washington 1 / 83 Back to Gallery

Murders and mutilations, such as slicing the finger off a corpse as a souvenir or using a blow torch to burn a tattoo off a man's torso while he was still alive, were just some of the savagery uncovered during a yearslong probe of the Aryan Brotherhood of Texas.

All told, 73 members and associates of the race-based gang were sent to federal prison in a case that began in Houston in 2009 and culminated this week with U.S. Attorney Gen. Loretta Lynch recognizing a team of prosecutors, agents, police and a Texas Ranger for their efforts.

"You are safeguarding our neighborhoods and defending our communities," Lynch said during a Washington ceremony in which she spoke of the Texas group and others getting awards from the Department of Justice.

"You are protecting the American people from crime, from violence and from threats to our national security," she continued. "And you are working, every day, to ensure that our children grow up in a nation that guarantees opportunity, dignity and justice for all."

Others singled out by Lynch included the team that investigated the Ferguson Police Department following the shooting there of Michael Brown by an officer and those who took down the leader of the Silk Road online network for distributing illegal drugs.

The Department of Justice credited the investigation with dismantling the gang by taking down every high-ranking member. That included five generals, such as Steve "Stainless" Cooke, who once lived in Tomball. He is among six defendants handed life sentences in the case. At least 47 others got sentences of 10 or more years.

The gang was created in the Texas prison system in the 1980s as a way for white inmates to protect themselves from other gangs, and it drew in members, many of whom said they were simply looking for a way to survive their time behind bars. But as the gang grew, authorities said it became a predator itself, and its crimes spread from prison to the streets.

All the while it was steeped in white supremacist teachings. Dark tattoos, worn only by gang members, include Nazi-like emblems. The gang has its sacred numbers, codes and colors. Women have never been allowed to be members, although they have gone to prison as a result of their efforts to support the gang.

The gang, which demands membership for life and vows to punish betrayal with death, most often retaliates against those who have broken rules or who are suspected of being informants, according to numerous court files.

The Texas Department of Public Safety's 2015 Gang Threat Assessment puts its size on par with the Bloods and Crips, among others, but says it has been greatly impacted by an array of investigations.

While the gang engaged in drug trafficking, assaults and murder, most of the victims of violence noted in the federal case were members of the gang or its inner circle, according to court papers.

Among the gang's truly innocent victims has been Robert McCartney, a longshoreman who was kidnapped from a Walmart parking lot in Baytown by gang members in 2006. They wanted his 14-year-old truck for its parts for a ranking member of the gang to fix his own truck. McCartney was stripped nude and his throat slit. McCartney's body was left in a Liberty County soybean field.

"The honest civilian has every reason to fear this gang," Texas Ranger Brandon Bess has previously said. "Their tentacles reach out,"

The federal investigation seemed to plow through the gang by turning one member after another into witnesses for the government, meaning they would share what they knew about their crimes as well as those of others in bids for leniency.

All but one of the defendants chose to plead guilty. The one who stood trial was convicted.

Authorities had no greater prize than exAryan Brotherhood of Texas general Terry Sillers who agreed to cooperate against his former gang. The last time the world saw Sillers, he was on a Harley-Davidson motorcycle in 2011 and leading police near Fort Worth on a wild chase captured from above by a television news helicopter.

As the case wrapped up, a prosecutor told a judge that Sillers deserved every bit of leniency, as he had provided invaluable assistance throughout the probe, and had done more than any other defendant who offered to cooperate.

He noted that Sillers was a marked man by the gang – which considers helping law enforcement to be a death penalty offense – and that one of the men Sillers helped put away now has a neck tattoo of a hangman's noose with a caricature of Sillers.

"Mr. Sillers is going to have to deal with that," the prosecutor said.

Sillers, who sports the gang's initials ABT in a tattoo across his throat, confirmed aloud during his sentencing hearing last year that he's been kept in the federal government's secretive Witness Security Program, which provides protection for people who have significantly helped authorities take on drug cartels, terrorist and other criminal organizations.

He said he admired the gang when he joined in the 1980s while in prison and climbed the ranks. But with time came too much change, he said, noting that members were killing women as well as maiming and murdering their own.

"The guys had changed a lot and I was getting older," he told the judge. Sillers was sentenced to 10 years. His whereabouts are unknown.

Among the few who refused to cooperate with authorities is Jamie "Dutch" Loveall, of Houston, whose last known rank was major in the gang. He is serving 32 years.

"We aren't all a bunch of murdering racist savages as we are portrayed by many," Loveall said in correspondence with the Houston Chronicle. "I am not some cuddly or friendly type, but all I do ... has a reason behind it."

Loveall had a hand in at least two murders on behalf of the gang, according to court papers.

"I am not the most politically correct person you will ever hear from," he said. "I also accept that most people would not care if I did receive the death penalty or life as long as I was out of their society."

Among those recognized by the Department of Justice for their for their efforts against the Aryan Brotherhood of Texas:

Department of Justice Trial Attorney David Karpel, chief prosecutor

Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives Senior Special Agent Richard Boehning, case agent

Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives Houston Special Agent Allen Darilek

Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives Intelligence Research Specialist Donna Gray

Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Texas Timothy Braley

Texas Ranger Brandon Bess

FBI Supervisory Special Agent William Scott O'Donnell

FBI Special Agent Keith Koncir

Deputy U.S. Marshal Justin Perusich

Homeland Security Investigations Special Agent Steven Cavitt

Homeland Security Investigations Special Agent Steven VanGeem

Carrollton Police Department Officer Steven Lair

Texas Department of Criminal Justice Office of the Inspector General, Criminal Investigator Joshua Lyons

Texas Department of Public Safety Criminal Investigations Division Lt. Devin R. Gonzales

Montgomery County Sheriff's Office Det. David Wells