2 Aryan Brotherhood prison gang members plead guilty to murders at California prisons
SUSANVILLE — A member of the Aryan Brotherhood prison gang confessed to killing another inmate at a Northern California prison to maintain his status in the gang, prosecutors said Wednesday.
Pat Brady, 53, pleaded guilty to murder in aid of racketeering in a long-running investigation into the gang, the U.S. District Attorney's Office said in a news release.
It happened in July 2018 at the High Desert State Prison in Susanville. Brady confessed to killing another inmate who falsely claimed to be a member of the gang in addition to running up a drug debt at another prison, prosecutors said.
The plea deal was part of an investigation that found that members of the Aryan Brotherhood were engaged in various crimes including or related to racketeering, murder, conspiracy, and drug trafficking operations involving meth and heroin between 2011-2016.
Prosecutors say charges allege gang members used cell phones to organize and oversee the illicit activities from their prison cells.
Brady was the second Aryan Brotherhood member to plead guilty to murder in aid of racketeering within the last month. On December 20, 2023, Brent Daniel, 49, admitted to killing an inmate at Salinas Valley Prison on Oct. 29, 2016, who lost drugs and failed to carry out a hit assigned by a gang member.
Brady faces life in prison and is scheduled to be sentenced on March 25.
Four other defendants are scheduled for trial in February. They are Ronald Yandell, Billy Sylvester, Danny Troxell, and Jason Corbett.