News from CJ's neighborhood:
'Whites only' East Texas meth dealer pleads guilty
By Robert Stanton | August 23, 2013 | Updated: August 23, 2013 6:30pm
News from CJ's neck of the woods. Four members of a white gang, Solid Wood Soldiers, arrested for murdering one of their own to prevent the Aryan Brotherhood of TX from retaliating on all of them for the wounding of an AB member. Apparently, the AB is the dominant gang in prisons pretty much everywhere.
A 49-year-old East Texas woman has admitted her role in a "whites only" criminal enterprise that sold methamphetamine and engaged in murder, federal prosecutors said.
Vicki Stark-Fitts pleaded guilty Friday to taking part in a pattern of racketeering activity that included conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine and commit murder, U.S. Attorney John M. Bales announced Friday.
Kenny Don Stanley, 25, of Vidor; Tanner Lynn Bourque, 33, (aka "Two Shoes" and "Hitman") of Port Arthur; and Kristopher Leigh Guidry, 28, (aka "Hollywood"), each pleaded guilty to murder in aid of the racketeering activity earlier this summer.
The four were charged in a seven-count indictment returned Aug. 7 by a federal grand jury, the latest in a series of prosecutions in East Texas targeting members and associates of the SWS and the Aryan Brotherhood of Texas (ABT) criminal gangs, according to a press release from the U.S. Attorney's Office, Eastern District of Texas.
SWS is a race-based organization operating inside and outside of jails and prisons in Texas and elsewhere, the indictment states. SWS, also known as "Solid Wood Soldiers" and "Separate White State," was founded in the 1990s by inmates at the Texas Department of Criminal Justice.
"Although the founders established SWS for protection of white inmates and advancement of white supremacy and white separatism, SWS expanded its objectives to include illegal activities for profit, including trafficking methamphetamine and firearms," the press release states. "SWS protects its power, territory, and profits through intimidation and violence, including assaults, robbery, and murder."
Federal prosecutors said that from September 2010 to January 2011, Bourque, Guidry and other SWS members manufactured "shake and bake" methamphetamine for distribution in the Orange County area.
In February 2011, Bourque, Guidry and other SWS members began associating with Stark-Fitts, who supplied them with crystal methamphetamine and firearms, according to federal prosecutors.
While SWS member James Lee Sedtal (aka "Lil Bit") was delivering meth in Orange County, Sedtal used one of Stark-Fitts's guns to shoot and wound an Aryan Brotherhood of Texas member, according to information presented in court.
ABT operates in Orange County area of Texas and other areas, prosecutors said, wielding supremacy over SWS in Orange County.
During the early morning hours of March 14, 2011, Stanley shot and killed Sedtal at Stark-Fitts's residence in Liberty County, according to the press release. Bourque had ordered Stanley to kill Sedtal to prevent ABT from retaliating against SWS for Sedtal's shooting of the ABT associate.
Later that morning, Bourque, Stark-Fitts, Guidry, and Stanley drove to a deserted logging trail in Hardin County where they disposed of Sedtal's body. His body was recovered nine days later inside a burned out car.
Stanley, Bourque, Guidry each pleaded guilty to a federal charge of murder in aid of racketeering. They face a punishment of life imprisonment. Stark-Fitts pleaded guilty to a violation of RICO (Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act), and faces up to life in prison.
The indictment charged all 12 defendants with conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine. If convicted, they face a punishment range of 10 years to life in prison.
The case is being prosecuted as part of Project Safe Neighborhoods Time Machine Initiative, aimed at "reducing gun and gang violence, deterring illegal possession of guns, ammunition and body armor, and improving the safety of residents in the Eastern District of Texas," according to the release.
Also assisting in case are the ATF, FBI, U.S. Marshals Service, U.S. Secret Service, U.S. Bureau of Prisons, DEA, Texas Rangers, Department of Public Safety CID, Texas Department of Criminal Justice OIG, Orange County Sheriff's Office, Hardin County Sheriff's Office, Jasper County Sheriff's Office, Tyler County Sheriff's Office, Jefferson County Sheriff's Office, and Beaumont Police Department.
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