Aryan gang general admits to racketeering

Terry "Big Terry" Blake, shown in 1999, has been in the Aryan Brotherhood of Texas for nearly 25 years. Terry "Big Terry" Blake, shown in 1999, has been in the Aryan Brotherhood of Texas for nearly 25 years. Photo: TDCJ Photo: TDCJ Image 1 of / 3 Caption Close Aryan gang general admits to racketeering 1 / 3 Back to Gallery

The eighth and final Aryan Brotherhood of Texas general charged in a probe that snared 74 members and associates pleaded guilty Friday to a massive racketeering conspiracy.

The plea by Terry "Big Terry" Blake, who has been in the gang for nearly 25 years, further increases the pressure on six members of the organization who still face trial and the prospect of life in prison.

Others have instead made deals that involved admitting their guilt and having a chance to one day go free. It remains to be seen which, if any of the accused, will take the witness stand for the government.

Prosecutions by federal authorities here and across the state have opened a window on the gang, which was born in the 1980s in the Texas prison system.

The race-based syndicate has a reach that extends from penitentiaries into the streets. Its crimes include arson, drug dealing, kidnapping, murder and an incident in which a finger was sliced from a corpse south of San Antonio as a trophy, according to court papers and testimony.

In the Dallas area, a blow torch was used to burn the gang tattoo off a disgraced member's torso.

Membership is for life, orders must be obeyed and cooperating with law enforcement carries a penalty of death, according to the gang's constitution.

A full brother

Blake, 57, told U.S. District Judge Sim Lake that he'd been close to the gang for most of his adult life, and was made a "full brother" in 1991.

"I have been around it a long time," Blake told the judge as he stood before him wearing a gray-and-white-striped jail uniform.

Blake, who said he was a truck driver by trade and kicked a drug addiction in the 1990s, climbed the ranks of the gang while he was in a Texas prison for a drug conviction. A few years ago, he took over a region that includes San Antonio and his native Corpus Christi.

He faces up to 15 years without parole, if Lake accepts the agreement at sentencing.

Earning his "bones"

Others who have recently pleaded guilty here include Jamie Loveall, a major in the gang from Houston, and Kelly Elley, a captain from Austin.

Loveall admitted to a 2001 Harris County murder in which of one of the gang's members was shot in the back of the head for breaking rules, as well as a second murder of an ousted member in 2002.

Loveall chose one of the newest members to help him with the 2002 killing in Waller so that he could earn his "bones" for the "family," according to court papers.

While standing before the judge Friday, Blake temporarily derailed a deal in which he would concede that the gang had been engaged in a litany of bloodshed and mayhem.

He was insistent that he did not tolerate drug dealing by subordinates in his region on his watch and would not sign anything that said he did.

"I am from down south. I have a no drug policy down there," Blake told the judge. "They were doing it out of my area. I wasn't around it."

Lake postponed the proceeding and told prosecutors and Blake's lawyer to iron out the deal.