Benjamin Troy Johnson, Racketeering, Texas 2013

State: Texas
Category: Organized Crime
Source: <a href="https://www.justice.gov/archives/opa/pr/aryan-brotherhood-texas-gang-member-pleads-guilty-federal-racketeering-charges-1" style="color:#cc0000;" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">DOJ Press Release ÃƒÂ¢Ã¢â‚¬Â Ã¢â‚¬â€

A member of the Aryan Brotherhood of Texas (ABT) gang has pleaded guilty to racketeering charges related to his membership in the ABT’s criminal enterprise, announced Acting Assistant Attorney General Mythili Raman and U.S. Attorney Kenneth Magidson.

Benjamin Troy Johnson, 42, of Corpus Christi, Texas, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Sim Lake in the Southern District of Texas to one count of conspiracy to participate in racketeering activity.

According to court documents, Johnson and other ABT gang members and associates agreed to commit multiple acts of murder, robbery, arson, kidnapping, and narcotics trafficking on behalf of the ABT gang.

Johnson and numerous ABT gang members met on a regular basis at various locations throughout Texas to report on gang-related business, collect dues, commit disciplinary assaults against fellow gang members, and discuss acts of violence against rival gang members, among other things.

By pleading guilty to racketeering charges, Johnson has admitted to being a member of the ABT criminal enterprise.

According to the superseding indictment, the ABT was established in the early 1980s within the Texas prison system. The gang modeled itself after and adopted many of the precepts and writings of the Aryan Brotherhood, a California-based prison gang that was formed in the California prison system during the 1960s.

Johnson is one of 36 defendants charged with conducting racketeering activity through the ABT criminal enterprise. He is the 13th defendant charged in the indictment to plead guilty.

Judge Lake has set sentencing for January 30, 2013, at which time Johnson faces a maximum penalty of life in prison.

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