A senior leader of the Aryan Circle (AC) and a gang member were sentenced today for being accessories-after-the-fact to racketeering murder, announced Assistant Attorney General Bryan A. Benczkowski of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division and U.S. Attorney David C. Joseph of the Western District of Louisiana.

David Wayne Williams, 38, of Sulphur, Louisiana, a senior leader in the gang, was sentenced to serve 157 months in prison and four years of supervised release and Richard Alan Smith, 47, of Little Rock, Arkansas was sentenced to serve 150 months in prison to be served consecutive to his current state charges and three years of supervised release by U.S. District Court Judge Dee D. Drell in the Western District of Louisiana.

On Aug. 22, 2018, Williams pleaded guilty to the charge of accessory-after-the-fact to racketeering murder of Clifton Hallmark, drug trafficking and weapons possession. On July 25, 2018, Smith pleaded guilty to the accessory-after-the-fact charge.

According to the plea agreement, the AC is a race-based, multi-state organization that operates inside and outside of state and federal prisons throughout Texas, Louisiana, and the United States. The AC was established in the mid-1980s within the Texas prison system (TDCJ). Recently, the AC’s structure and influence expanded to rural and suburban areas throughout Texas, Louisiana, and Missouri. The AC emerged as an independent organization during a period of turmoil within the Aryan Brotherhood of Texas (ABT). The AC was relatively small in comparison to other prison-based gangs, but grew in stature and influence within TDCJ in the 1990s, largely through violent conflict with other gangs, white and non-white alike.

The plea agreement further alleges that the AC enforces its rules and promotes discipline among its members, prospects and associates through murder, attempted murder, assault, robbery and threats against those who violate the rules or pose a threat to the organization. Members, and oftentimes associates, are required to follow the orders of higher-ranking members without question.

In pleading guilty to the accessory charge, Williams and Smith admitted to being accessories to the murder of Hallmark on or around July 1, 2016, when a fellow AC member shot Hallmark in the side of his head at point blank range at an AC “church” meeting in Turkey Creek, Louisiana. Williams and Smith both admitted to being members of the AC criminal enterprise. Williams admitted to being a senior leader of the gang.

This case is being investigated by an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force consisting of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives; the Drug Enforcement Administration; Federal Bureau of Prisons; U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations; Louisiana State Police; Evangeline Parish, (LA) Sheriff’s Office; Evangeline Parish District Attorney’s Office; Texas Department of Public Safety; Houston Police Department-Gang Division; Texas Department of Criminal Justice; New Jersey Department of Corrections-Special Investigations Division; Arnold (MO) Police Department; Jefferson County (MO) Sheriff’s Department; St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department; St. Louis County (MO) Police Department; Montgomery County (TX) Precinct 1 Constable’s Office; Indiana State Police; Indiana Department of Corrections; Carrollton (TX) Police Department; Waller (TX) Police Department; Montgomery County (TX) Sheriff’s Office; Travis County (TX) Sheriff’s Office and the Tarrant County (TX) Sheriff’s Office.

The case is being prosecuted by Trial Attorney David Karpel of the Criminal Division’s Organized Crime and Gang Section and Assistant U.S. Attorney Dominic Rossetti of the Western District of Louisiana.