(CNN) James Stern, the California pastor and activist who took over one of the country's largest neo-Nazi groups with plans to destroy it, died before accomplishing his goal, his attorney said.

Stern died October 11, attorney Bob Ross told CNN. He was buried Tuesday in Inglewood, California, after a battle with cancer, according to his close friend, Arne List.

The former president of the Detroit-based National Socialist Movement turned the group over to Stern in January amid infighting between the group's core members, the activist claimed.

NSM is known for its "violent anti-Jewish rhetoric" and racist views, the Southern Poverty Law Center says. It was among more than a dozen organizations and individuals sued by victims injured in the violent 2017 clashes in Charlottesville, Virginia.

NSM's former president, Jeff Schoep, said he was "deceived" by Stern. In an open letter to NSM members, which he also sent to CNN, Schoep said Stern had convinced him "that in order to protect our membership from the ongoing lawsuit, I should sign over NSM's presidency to him."

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