LOS ANGELES, CA – Law enforcement on the federal and local levels indicted 68 and arrested 42 members of a white supremacist group – the “SFV Peckerwoods” – this past Wednesday in the San Fernando Valley.
The U.S. Dept. of Justice reports the accused were arrested on “a 76-count federal grand jury indictment” following years-long engagement involving illegal activities such as “racketeering activity that included trafficking of drugs – including fentanyl – illegal firearms possession, and COVID-19 benefits and loan fraud.”
Following the arrest, Attorney General Merrick B. Garland explained the Justice Department “has dealt a decisive blow to the SFV Peckerwoods,” who were described by DOJ as a violent white supremacist gang.
The group, said the DOJ, is charged with “committing robberies, and perpetrating financial fraud to fund both their criminal enterprise and that of the Aryan Brotherhood.”
With the day’s arrests and charges, Attorney General Garland confirms the Justice Department will be wholly focusing on any other criminal enterprises endangering the community.
The indictment for the case reveals charges for a total of 68 accused with multiple federal crime charges including, according to DOJ, “conspiracy to violate the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act, conspiracy to distribute controlled substances, distribution of controlled substances, bank fraud, conspiracy to commit bank fraud, aggravated identity theft, possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime, unlawful possession of a firearm and ammunition by a felon, and possession of 15 or more unauthorized access devices.”
Many of those arrested were to be arraigned in the U.S. District Court in downtown Los Angeles. Additionally, revealed in the indictment, law enforcement also seized “large quantities” of illegal firearms and various drugs including fentanyl, methamphetamine, and heroin.
The DOJ, in a statement, said U.S. Attorney Estrada condemned the violent white-supremacist ideology and wide-ranging criminal activity of the Peckerwoods, adding, “in prosecuting the members of the Peckerwoods criminal organization, our office is carrying out its mission to protect the public from the most dangerous threats.”
Assistant Director in Charge Akil Davis of the FBI Los Angeles Field Office added, “This case strikes at the heart of our collective mission to rid out communities of the corrosive elements that fuel violence and extremism.”
Special Agent in Charge Matthew Allen of the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) also condemned the SFV Peckerwoods actions, as well as those of the Aryan Brotherhood and their associates which he believes are “fused by one thing: hatred.”
In another indictment a grand jury returned last week, it was claimed by DOJ the Peckerwoods white supremacist street gang takes orders from the Aryan Brotherhood, which is California’s dominant prison-based white supremacist gang. They also maintain an alliance with the Mexican Mafia prison gang.
According to DOJ, the Peckerwoods “use Nazi tattoos, graffiti, and iconography to indicate their violent white supremacy extremist ideology,” which includes symbols like the “swastikas, the symbol ‘88,’ used…as code for ‘Heil Hitler,’ and images of Nazi aircraft.”
To communicate, members and associates of the gang use social media to share information with each other about criminal activity and gang rules, explained DOJ, and also use those means to identify “gang members in good standing and targeting people who broke the gang’s rules,” said DOJ.
The DOJ also reports “from at least December 2016 to September,” Peckerwoods’ members have promoted a general climate of fear in the community, by conducting and participating “in the affairs of their criminal enterprise by engaging in violence and threats of violence to preserve and expand the gang’s criminal operations.”
In furtherance of these claims, “members and associates…illegally maintained firearms and ammunition,” according to DOJ.
The DOJ added the group “trafficked narcotics, including fentanyl, heroin, and methamphetamine.”
The government identified Claire Patricia Havland, Brian Glenn Ekelund, and Brianne Brewer as the ones who maintained and oversaw the drug stash houses where large amounts of the previously mentioned drugs were stored. The gang also generated revenue “via the robberies and financial fraud and participated in identity theft schemes.”
Chief Dominic Choi of the Los Angeles Police Department said, “The proliferation of gang-related organized crime deteriorates the core of our society.”
If the gang members are convicted, they “face a maximum penalty of life in prison,” said DOJ.
