A leader of the notorious Aryan Brotherhood white supremacist prison gang is accused of attempting to kill two California prison guards, authorities said Tuesday.
Ronald Yandell, 62, pulled an “improvised weapon” during a routine transfer on Nov. 22 at a prison in Folsom, the state’s corrections department said in a press release. He was being moved after an appointment at the prison health building.
One guard responded with three doses of pepper spray, which forced Yandell to drop the weapon, according to authorities. He was handcuffed and taken away from the crime scene.
Yandell was already serving a life sentence for murder and voluntary manslaughter, which he was handed in March 2004.
Earlier this year, he was convicted of several counts of murder and conspiracy in a federal case surrounding his leadership of the Aryan Brotherhood. Yandell coordinated several attacks on prisoners throughout California, including rival gang members and members of the Aryan Brotherhood who were deemed out of line.
Yandell and other Aryan Brotherhood leaders were also convicted in of running a drug trafficking scheme from prison using smuggled cellphones. He faces an additional life sentence in the federal case.
The Aryan Brotherhood formed in the 1960s in California state prisons and eventually spread throughout the country, including federal lockups. Authorities have been trying to break up the group for years.
Aryan Brotherhood members, acting on Yandell’s orders, were convicted in the notorious prison murder of Black Guerilla Family leader Hugo Pinell at the same state prison in 2015.
With News Wire Services
