/Prison gang trial opens in Oxford

Prison gang trial opens in Oxford

The investigation into the Aryan Brothers of Mississippi, a group that advocates white supremacy, led to their 2014 indictments. Perry Wayne Mask, Frank George Owens Jr. and Eric Glenn Parker are all set to stand trial in the Hattiesburg region. They all pleaded not guilty. They were all accused by a federal grand jury of conspiring to possess methamphetamines and intending to distribute them to support their activities as gang leaders inside and outside Mississippi state prisons. Owens and Parker are also facing kidnapping, murder and other charges in the 2010 death of Michael James Hudson. Prosecutors allege Hudson owed them money through a drug deal. Owens and Mask were accused of trying to kill “J.B.” in north Mississippi in August 2013. Mask is also accused of stealing 44 firearms from licensed dealers located in Coldwater, Corinth and other areas. The 31-page indictment, dated April 2015 by the U.S. Attorney’s Office, describes the Aryan Brothers of Mississippi (ABM), as a “criminal organisation” whose members and associated engage in narcotics trafficking, firearms trafficking and acts of violence including assault and murder both within the Mississippi Department of Corrections, and across the state. Several of the 14 other indicted and detained defendants could be available for testimony before the trial before Senior U.S. district Judge Glen H. Davidson. The other defendants have pleaded guilty, and they are either sentenced or are awaiting sentencing.