Two Aryan Brotherhood Leaders Convicted in Los Angeles

Posted: January 11, 2007

Two high ranking members of the racist prison gang Aryan Brotherhood were convicted in Los Angeles, California, of federal racketeering charges stemming from six murders and three attempted assassinations.

Robert Lee "Blinky" Griffin, 59, and John William "Youngster" Stinson, 52, were convicted on January 9 of conspiracy to commit racketeering, and committing violent acts in aid of racketeering. Both men face life sentences without the possibility of parole.

The trial of Griffin and Stinson follows the July 2006 conviction of four other Aryan Brotherhood leaders by a federal jury in Santa Ana, California. Barry Byron Mills, 57, Tyler Davis Bingham, 59, and Edgar Wesley Hevle, 54, were sentenced to life in prison without parole. The fourth, Christopher Overton Gibson, 46, is currently awaiting sentencing.

During the six-week trial prosecutors offered testimony and evidence of an Aryan Brotherhood conspiracy of murder and intimidation from within the California prisons, and that both Stinson and Griffin were among those who took part.

Griffin led the California unit of the Aryan Brotherhood since its conception in 1982 at the state prison in Chino. Stinson rose to power within the gang by aligning himself with Griffin, and was the group's predominant leader by 1994. Both men were already serving time for murder when they joined.

Griffin and Stinson are scheduled to be sentenced on May 14, 2007.