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HomeCRIME & PUNISHMENTAryan Brotherhood Prison Gang Members Ronald Yandell, William Sylvester Sentenced to Two...

Aryan Brotherhood Prison Gang Members Ronald Yandell, William Sylvester Sentenced to Two Consecutive Life Terms in Prison for Murder, RICO-related Crimes

Ronald Yandell, 62, of Pinole, and William Sylvester, 56, of Norco, were each sentenced Wednesday by U.S. District Judge Kimberly J. Mueller to two consecutive life terms in prison for murder in aid of racketeering and various other RICO-related crimes.

According to court documents, between 2011 and 2016, Aryan Brotherhood members and associates engaged in racketeering activity, committing multiple acts involving murder, conspiracies to murder, and drug trafficking crimes.

The trial evidence showed that Aryan Brotherhood members oversaw a significant heroin and methamphetamine trafficking operation from their California prison cells using smuggled cellphones to direct drug trafficking activities, order murders, and oversee other criminal activities inside and outside of the prisons.

According to evidence presented at trial, on August 15, 2015, two inmates carried out a brutal murder of another inmate at CSP-Sacramento on Yandell’s order. 

Before the murder, Yandell offered the two inmates membership in the Aryan Brotherhood if they were able to execute the killing. 

About a year after the murder, DEA intercepted calls made by Yandell over a contraband cellphone in which he bragged about directing the murder and sponsoring the killers for membership in the gang. 

Yandell also directed that money earned from Aryan Brotherhood criminal activities be directed to support the two murderers.

According to evidence presented at trial, on October 7, 2001, Sylvester murdered another inmate at CSP-Sacramento to earn his membership in the Aryan Brotherhood. 

In particular, Sylvester murdered the other inmate because the victim was a member of a gang that refused to recognise the Aryan Brotherhood’s authority, and, as a result, members of the victim’s gang were marked for death. 

To carry out the murder, Sylvester and another inmate used substantial planning and premeditation to carry out the attack within an extremely restrictive prison environment.

They used inmate-manufactured weapons and surprised the victim with multiple lethal stab wounds to the victim’s body. Sylvester earned membership in the gang for carrying out the killing.

In April 2024, following a nine-week trial before, a federal jury found Yandell, Sylvester, and co-defendant Danny Troxell, 71, guilty of RICO conspiracy, conspiracy to murder, murder in aid of racketeering, and multiple counts of drug trafficking. 

Troxell will be sentenced on February 18, 2025.

Charges remain pending against one defendant, Kevin MacNamara, 44, of La Palma. The charges are only allegations; the defendants are presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.

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